dothackTWILIGHTAngeLFeatherS
by SoraKaibaLeonhart101
Summary: Set during the time of the game and Liminality. What the determination and courage of a young woman can do when her best friend falls comatose. To those who have been waiting Chapter Twelve is up!
1. Default Chapter

Author's Message

I'm only going to list this once, so listen up or refer back here when needed. TWILIGHT takes place at the same time the video game and it's Liminality DVDs do. The following characters and their classifications are listed below, along with whom they are righted to.

Balmung of the Azure Sky- blademaster Bandai/Sora Kazuma

HiRelena/HiRelena Yui- wavemaster Hirelena Sakamoto

Keita/Keita Bunjihiro- blademaster Hirelena Sakamoto

Ramia/Raine Kouhei- long arm Mia Yagyu

Kei/Nenji Amiya- twin blade Mia Yagyu

Hikaru/Hikaru Fanel- wavemaster Serenity

Alyanae/Tsukeike Yamumaha- long arm Elizabeth

Eji Kazuma/Tatsumaru Kanzaki- heavy blade Eji Kazuma

Grem/Shinta Imawano- polearm master Eji Kazuma

Ranku/Jorrne Akari-blademaster                                          Ranku

Orca of the Azure Sea- blademaster Bandai Entertainment

Cast of .dothackSIGN Bandai Entertainment

Cast of .dothackLiminality and Infection Bandai Entertainment

Raquel/Rachel Quetichi- long arm Author-Sora Kazuma

Skye/ Yue Yukisagi- archer Author-Sora Kazuma

Hiko/Hiko Tobouwanai- heavy blade Author-Sora Kazuma

Savana/Tawna Saganachi- blademaster Author-Sora Kazuma

** NOTE:** If you have not finished watching .dothackSIGN, I'm warning you, this does have spoilers!!! Also, not everything about the characters is completely accurate. I might have brought back a couple, just for the hell of it.

Now what I've had to tell you has been written, so with out any further interruption, AngeLFeatherS. R & R if you like.

_To tell you you're my angel, fly with me my angel_

_Take me to your world; I'll show you just how much you mean to me_

_Angel, fly with me my angel_

_Falling from the sky, and straight into my heart._

-"Angel"/ Sarina Paris

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**Prologue**

It was Tomonari that got Tawna to play 'the World.' A junior, specializing in computers, she had heard of the game long before its debut to the net. She wanted to play, but running the program at home was way to expensive and her mother would never give her that much money for a _game_. So, Tomonari introduce to the small group at G-study. The arrogant freshman was completely confident that she would get along with everyone, and for once, he was right. He helped her create her own character and taught her the basics to playing. Tawna was captivated by the ever-changing storyline and fast-paced attitude of the World. She played almost everyday, but not for long periods of time. This interested Tomonari, who was always one of the last ones home in the evening, but he never found his place to ask. He knew it had something to do with her past and he didn't want to get on unfriendly terms with one of his few upperclassmen friends.

A few weeks after Tawna became a G-study member, Tomonari asked out Mai Minase, a soft-spoken and shy freshman girl who participated in the school's band. Tawna was happy for the couple and thought of Mai as her friend since the moment they first met. The younger girl warmed up to the junior easily, and Tawna felt rather proud to be looke up to.

One Friday afternoon, Tomonari and Mai put in a request to have the G-study room to them. Tawna, realizing something was going on between the two and who had more important things to do at the time thought briefly about them on her walk home from school.

"Probably a make out session, or something like that." She had joked, crossing the main highway to the apartment complex where she lived.

But upon arrival to school on Monday, Tawna learned the terrible truth. Tomonari had been hospitalized and was currently in a coma. Mai had taken a leave of absence from school and wasn't due back anytime soon. Rumors were spreading as quickly as wild fire about how the two had ended up in such a condition. Some further prying by the members of G-study to their advisor lead to some startling stories.

Apparently the two had passed out while playing a computer game.

The junior girl headed to the hospital that afternoon to see Tomonari. Watching her friend in his pitiful unconscious state, a rage and an accusation formed inside her.

The World was responsible for this.

Heading back to the school, she broke into the G-study room through a hidden entrance in the back wall. Taking a laptop and the necessary equipment for the Internet, she headed home. She would find out what had happened to Tomonari before anyone knew it was missing.


	2. A whitewinged Angel

  
**Chapter One: A White-Winged Angel**

                                    _I can't help it…_

_                                    Couldn't stop it of I tried…_

                                    The same old heartbeat fills the emptiness I have inside… 

          "Huh?" Savana blinked, holding up her tan hands. Her amber eyes looked down on her tight-fitting uniform. Black short shorts with a spaghetti-strapped khaki and purple tube top, straps hanging off her shoulders. One hand slipped to her waist where her metal sheath was pulling at its leather throng, wrapped around her hips. She was at the Chaos gate, and the entire root town of Mac Anu lay before her. "I'm in. Now where to start?"

          Mac Anu was the main city in the Delta server. A sunset area and a beautiful town built over a river it's title, The Aqua Capital, seemed to fit perfectly. As usual it was crowded with players in search of better items and weapons.

          "I guess I can start here." The woman replied, running her fingers through her long, shaggy, bright crimson hair.

          Asking each of the shop owners proved pointless. They had so many customers a day that it was impossible to tell everyone apart. Nobody on the street had heard of him either.

          "He was a blademaster who went by the online name Sieg." She continuously asked people. And each answer she received was a no.

          "I thought he said he was popular!" she sighed as she opened the Chaos gate. "Damn him! Tomonari!" her fist beat against the metal frame of the portal. In a flash of blue light, she stumbled into a field of tall grass. It was night and the stars shone, illuminating the full moon even further. 

          "Woah! Where am I?!" she frantically glanced around. "Area Information!"

          Immediatedly a screen flashed up in Tawna's view. "Non-elemental? Never been to one of those before. Level 25?!" she swallowed. "That's way to high for me! And-" she watched as a pack of Hell Hounds closed in around her while she had been under the screen. "I can't gate out while I'm in battle mode." She closed the menu and raised her sword. "All I can do is hope for the best."

          The pack jumped her, ripping clothing and skin. The leaders surrounded her, cutting off any escape route she had. La Repth was a temporary source of health, but her SP diminished fast. With only 2 HP left, the female blademaster was having a hard time just staying standing. Tawna bit her bottom lip as the dogs closed in on their prey. _'I haven't saved…'_

          The pack leader growled and rushed her. Savana's knees gave out and she began to collapse…

          …right into a pair of strong arms.

          "Hey, are you okay?"

          Savana simply nodded, not even bothering to see who had saved her life. She didn't have the energy.

          "You don't seem like it. Let me get you out of here first."

          She thought she was hallucinating as she suddenly saw the ground fifty feet below her. A stone structure came into view, before Savana's eyes blurred again. The arms wrapped around her let her down softly on a hard, yet smooth rock surface. Her forehead touched the cold marble floor as she lay over a pair of steps. She was completely exhausted. Moments seemed to pass like hours before she heard footsteps returning to where she was laying.

          "You really took a beating." It was the same voice from before. A bright blue light surrounded Savana as the voice chanted a high-leveled healing spell that the player couldn't recognize. In an instant her HP bar was completely restored. "Better?" 

          She sat up, looking at her body as if she couldn't believe she looked like she was in health. She realized as she glanced up that she was on the steps of a mighty temple, similar to buildings in Mac Anu. Turning around, her eyes fell on the man who had saved her.

          He was tall, with choppy ivory white hair that fell just over his shoulders. He wore blue and silver armor, accented here and there by green and gold and a massive sword at his waist. Snowy wings billowed out of his back and spread out behind him as he stretched, the downy fluff on his shoulders ruffling in the slight breeze. The length of his arms were encased in thick blue steel, but they paused to let through another set of feathers draping down to the length of his waist. He was fair-skinned too, a pale white color which somehow blended nicely with his wings and hair. His emerald eyes fell on her and he smirked.

          "What were you doing here? What level are you? Twelve?"

          "Thirteen, thank you very much." She said defensively. "And I teleported here on mistake."

          "Well, sorry. My mistake." He bowed dramatically.

          Savana gritted her teeth. "Who are you anyway?"

          His eyes went wide for a moment, before he joined her on the steps. "You must be a total newbie." At the glare she gave him he held up his hands. "That's not a bad thing. I was a newbie, once."

          "Once?" she looked over at him in curiosity.

          "Yeah." He sighed, before smiling. " My name's Balmung. A blademaster."

          "Savana." She smiled back. "I'm a blademaster too."          

          "I can see that." He paused. "You're really nice, you know. Most women I run into usually swamp me." Leaning back on the steps, his face searched the sky.

          "Why? I mean, you're good-looking and all, but isn't that a bit to far?" she asked, running a hand through her crimson mane.

          "Yeah, really. Tell me about it." He ignored her question, but she really didn't mind. He sat back up, a gloved hand resting on the handle of his sword. "I have to use this just to keep the ladies away."

          "Modest are we?" she giggled.

          "As modest as I can get." He stood up and took a few footsteps back. "Well, Savana, it's been nice talking to you. Maybe we'll run into each other again, the next time you need to have your life saved."

          "This won't happen again." She promised him with a grin.

          "I bet it won't. But then there won't be a next time, will there?" he smiled down on her as a golden circle surrounded him, his body materializing into nothingness.

          "Wait!" she yelled, starting off the steps as his image disappeared into the night. "Damn, he gated out! I didn't even give him my member address! Balmung, how could you just leave me here?!"

          She gated back to Mac Anu, angry that she hadn't found out anything.

          "I wish I could stay, but I'm getting really tired. Okay, so my mission to save Tomonari tonight will have to be delayed till tomorrow afternoon, but still." She yawned as she walked down an alleyway. "And where did that damn Chaos gate get to??? Speaking of gates, I have to find that Balmung and give him a piece of my mind."

          "Balmung?" one of the passing girls stopped her. She was dressed in red flare jeans with complicated markings on them and a red halter-top with the same designs. A long spear was shoved under one of her arms, the point resting on the concrete ground.She pushed a strand of her long blonde hair out of her teal eyes as she stared down at Savana. "Are you talking about Balmung of the Azure Sky?"

          "I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe."

          "He's about six feet tall with shaggy white hair and pretty dark green eyes." She went on, describing him in full detail.

          "Yeah, that's him! That dumb idiot! How could he just leave me there?" the blademaster clenched her fists in frustration.

          "Excuse me." The woman put a hand on Savana's shoulder. "You know Balmung?"

          "Yeah." At the excite look on the other girl's face she added. "What's the big deal about him?"

          "Big deal?! Are you a complete newbie?!"

          "Okay, so I've only played six hours tops on this game." She sweatdropped. "So, explain."

          "Balmung, if he's the one and the same Balmung you know, is Balmung of the Azure Sky. He watches over Beta server's Dun Lorieag and is a direct descendant of Fianna. He's supposed to be on e of the best players in the World. Nt only is he unmatched in fighting and magic, but he's a hottie!" she paused. "All the women talk about him all the time. But, very few have seen him. His appearance gives him away, so he gets publicity wherever he goes. He seems to hate that so he tackles super high-level dungeons or areas that seems different from other areas." She smiled. "But you've met him! That's so totally unbelievably cool! My name's Raquel. I'll give you my member address. Contact me, whenever you see Balmung again. He's the reason I got into playing this game."

          "Okay…" as the woman bounded off, Savana was left with more unanswered questions. _'Balmung, a creator of the World? One of the best? Then why'd he bother to save me?'_ she wandered until she found herself at the Chaos gate. _'He has all this power, right? So why didn't he just leave me to die and laugh over me like the other experienced players sometimes do when I struggle? Why are you so different from every other man I've met here?'_ as the blue portal began to glow, she pulled out her sword, preparing to log out. "Balmung of the Azure Sky. You're an interesting man. So interesting, I might just have to search for you myself to find more answers."

-*END CHAPTER ONE*-


	3. Moonlighting RolePlay

          Sorry for everyone who's been waiting. I have this story written down on paper and I'm typing it as I go… so please be patient with me. I just started writing a .dothack//Dusk; Legend of the Twilight Bracelet story and anyone who wants to have a character made for the story can contact me at GrieversLastAngel@hotmail.com for the details.

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**Chapter Two: Moonlighting Roleplay**

                                    _And I've heard that you can't fight love so I won't complain_

_                                    Cause why would I stop the fire that keeps me going on?_

          The next day after school, Tawna rushed up the steps to her room. Pulling the laptop out from under her bed, she plugged the phone jack into the wall and placed on the head visor.

          "Alright. I'm on." She smiled as Altimit's front page booted up. "Mail? Who would know to send mail to me?" Opening her inbox, she fell over, her head hitting the wall. "That little!"

          Clicking on the message she read what it had to say.

          ~ I've heard you tried to find me last night. Sorry, for abruptly leaving, but I had other matters to attend to. Let me get to the point. Just because you've met me, do I strike a sudden interest to you? Maybe I misjudged you, thinking you different from every other person I have met in the World.

Balmung of the Azure Sky~ 

          She sighed as her fingers scanned the keyboard, bu she couldn't think of a single thing to say. After re-reading the letter twice her fingers began to dance over the keys.

          ~You've got it all wrong. I didn't mean to pry and I'm sorry if I offended you. I just thought I should learn more about what I'm getting in to. You are a very important part of this world. I know that's why you called me a newbie before, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I wouldn't be playing this if it weren't for a friend of mine who is no longer with me. It's because of him that I have to find out what I can about this game. I didn't mean to cause trouble.

Savana~ 

          "Hopefully that will satisfy him." She mumbled as she entered the Aqua Capital. "Oh well. Maybe he'll reply."

          Savana skipped over to Dun Lorieag. "Maybe Beta server will prove more useful. I don't think he wants me to, but maybe I could find some more information on Balmung." She stretched. "I don't want to seem like I'm stalking him.

          "I guess it's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights." She said shakily as she crossed over the rickety bridge connecting the chaos gate to the rest of the city.

          "The levels in the Beta sever are way to high. So I'll just talk to the people here."

          It took a while, but she finally found some information on Sieg and an area keyword to one of the last places he'd been seen at. Balmung on the other hand was a different story. Raquel was right on the account that there were always rumors flying around about him.

          "So, Balmung looks over Dun Lorieag as if it were his own. And his partner, Orca of the Azure Sea, looks over Mac Anu. The two are the best players in the World. Balmung holds first place in the Hero of Ziet contest. Orca has second place. And-" she smiled. "Sieg is in third." She looked down into the pen at the small blue grunty that had been watching her for some time. "Well, hi there little guy." She pulled a root vegetable out of her pocket. "You hungry?"

          Watching the little animal's mouth water, she tossed the vegetable to it and watched it swallow it in one bite.

          "Well, I have to go. Mom just got home and she's calling for me. It's kind of hard being an only child." She hopped the fence and patted the small grunty on the head. "But you can relate, huh?" she grinned. "Later!"

          "Man, school was boring as hell today." Savana yawned as she walked around Mac Anu. "And Balmung still hasn't replied yet. You would think a famous character like him would play everyday!" her stroll took her back to the chaos gate. "That level Sieg was seen in was on Beta server and that's way to high for me. So, I guess I'll go level up."

          She went through level 10 and 11 areas by herself. Battling all the monsters, opening all the treasure chests and collecting all the grunty food.

          "Wow, that's six today." She replied as she opened the last chest in the dungeon and watching the gott statue. "And three more levels. I know Sieg would be proud of me, if he was still around." Her golden eyes softened and her smile fell. "He wouldn't believe I've been spending so much time online. I never told him why I-"

          "Hey!"

          Savana spun around to see a woman her height and age standing at the entrance. Her short sandy brown hair and cerulean eyes stood out against her tan skin and she wore a heavy sword strapped to her back. A man stood next to her, with blue and white paint covering most of his face and chest. A sword was strapped around his waist and against the side of his deerskin kilt.

          "Did you happen to see a wavemaster in here, with silver hair and purple eyes?" the girl asked.

          "I haven't seen anyone in this dungeon. Why?" she told them, walking up.

          "Damn it! When I find him, I'm gonna kill him!" it was obvious the girl's temper had been set off as she was screaming at the air and clenching her fists.

          "You'll have to forgive her. She gets very emotional over him." The man smiled looking down on her with amethyst eye. "A blademaster, huh? I am too. The name's Bear."

          The kindness radiating from the man made her smiled back in turn. "I'm Savana."

          "Sorry 'bout that." The girl had evidently calmed down and was grinning sheepishly. "I'm Mimiru, a heavy blader."

          "So, who is it that you're looking for?" Savana was curious to know why two high-leveled swordsmen would be searching for a magician.

          "He's a wavemaster. Tsukasa." Mimiru sighed.

          The female blademaster raised her eyebrows. "Tsukasa? The Tsukasa who caused all that trouble six months ago in this game? You're friends of his?"

          "More like acquaintances. But as close to friends as he'll let anyone get." Bear explained.

          "Besides Subaru. I bet she knows where he is!" Mimiru clenched her fists again. "Man, she gets kicks from hiding from us. That dumb girl!"

          "She?" Savana stared at the heavy blader, confused. "I thought Tsukasa was a guy."

          "He is. But his offline player is a girl." The male swordsman told her.

          "Woah. Didn't know that." She paused. "I guess she can't relate to her the character she plays, can she?"

          "On the contrary. Tsukasa's player puts her heart into her character. But, at the same time, she reminds herself that he is not her, but another male warrior."

          "So, she can understand what he's going through, through her own actions, but she acknowledges that Tsukasa is his own character and therefore has his own rights! That's is so cool! It's like a role play!"

          "Isn't the World based around roleplaying?" Mimiru snorted, running her fingers through her sandy brown hair.

          "It is, but," she paused not sure how to say what she wanted to get across. "Back before the internet crash in 2005 and when I was a freshman in highschool, I used to RP different characters in online chat rooms. I would actually play two or three different characters, and it didn't bother me whether they were male or female. I put all my effort into them, but never really connected with them. I let their personalities inspire to talk and act the way they should. I kind of know how Tsukasa's player feels. Or at least I did. Savana is, well, she's my virtual self, in a way."

          "You bring up some very interesting points. You're pretty smart." Bear complimented her, a smile on his handsome face.

          "I can't believe you've been playing playing online since before Altimit. That's kinda creepy." Mimiru put a hand on her hip.

          "You forget that Altimit has exsisted for less than three years. I remember a time when MS-DOS was the leading operating system." The tall blademaster told them. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Savana. Here." A double sound went off above them. "Take my member address, and get in touch with me if you want to form a party."

          "Here, take mine too." Mimiru winked. "It might be easier than tracking down a reckless wavemaster. Later!"

          With the use of two sprite ocarinas they warped back to Mac Anu.

          "Tawna! Dinner's ready!"

          Tawna threw off the goggles at the sound of her mother's call. "Alright!" sighing, she slid the visor back on and logged out. Placing the computer back under the bed, she got up and turned off the lights before heading down the steps.

          "You've been spending a lot of time in your room the past couple of days. What's going on?" her mother asked as she sat down at the table.

          "I have a big project coming up that's been taking up most of my time." She explained picking up her chopsticks, and lying through her teeth.

          "Oh?" her mother's cerulean eyebrows raised and she smiled. "Well then, keep up the good work. But keep in mind that there is a life beyond work."

          "I will Mom." She shoveled her food in her mouth with her chopsticks. "I'm going to go take a bath. Later!" she sat her plates on the counter in the kitchen and raced up the stairs to the bathroom.

          "Man, I have to get my math homework done tonight too. I wanted to spend all night online." She sighed as she felt the hot water surround her as she hopped in the tub. "Oh well, I guess I'll live."

          Spending as little time in the shower as she could afford she hopped back out twenty minutes later. As she left the small room, she realized the lights had already been turned out downstairs, which meant her mother had gone to bed for the night.

          She got dressed in her night clothes as the computer signed on and pulled her textbooks out of her back pack.

          "Only an hour more online and then I have to get my homework done. I'll definitely be in trouble if my grades slip."

          As the desktop came up (one of Savana Tawna had Cged herself), her mailbox sounded and the icon 'New Mail' flashed up.

          Sittinf down on the floor, she attached the visor and slipped it on, not even remembering her long crimson hair was still dripping wet.

          "Nani?" she gasped as she quickly read the letter.

          ~…. I see. It is I who should be apologizing then. I'm sorry. I can admit your story has caught my attention as well. I would like to meet again, if you are online tonight. The keywords will get you to the meeting place on the Delta server. If you don't receive this until tomorrow, then don't worry about it.

Balmung of the Azure Sky~

          "So he wants to meet up with me again, huh?" she smiled. "Alright. I can live that."

          Hopping into Mac Anu, she typed in the keywords and climbed back into the chaos gate.

          "Hey!" she gasped at what she saw. "It was the same place she had initially met Balmung, but something had considerably altered the area. The screen continued to flash and glitch. Text ran through in some places. The sky was full of glowing green gaps and the moon eerily shone blue. "What is this?!"

          "This…" a familiar voice sounded off in the distance and got closer as Balmung emerged further down the walk way. "Is the work of a virus."

          "A virus?" she whispered back.

          He stepped closer, until her body was just inches from his. "You've grown stronger I see. But you haven't reached level 20 yet."

          Savana swallowed under his heavy emerald eyes. "Seventeen." She shoved him back a little. "And don't change the subject! How did this place-"

          "We don't really know. There are 20 million players in the World We can't track which one unleashed it into the World, that would be impossible. And we don't even know if it was a player. Hackers intercept this game all the time. But, this, this is what it does." He held out a gloved hand as the plains below continued to corrupt. "It eats away at anything. Areas, dungeons, players-"

          "Players?!" she took a step back. "How?!"

          "We're not totally sure. It's something referred to as a data drain. It absorbs a player for an extended amount of time, killing the character. Sometimes it's indefinite, sometimes not. It depends on what mood the virus is in." his hands clenched and he gritted his teeth. "It keeps us eating out of the palm of its hand, and there's nothing we can damn well do about it!"

          "This data drain…can it effect the offline player?" at the stunned look on his face, she continued. "Can it? Because, if it can, it's the one thing I have to destroy! If I destroy it, Tomonari will wake up, won't he?" Savana shouted before ducking her head in embarrassment. "He… was my best friend."

          "Your friend who was no longer with you… Sieg…I didn't know he.."

          She jerked her head up. "You knew Sieg?"

          "Knew him?" he snorted. "He and I were good friends. Orca, him and I used to go adventuring together, back when the World wasn't so crowded and nobody knew who we were. But, I didn't know he was gone." He beat his fist on the marble wall. "This is why Orca and I were trying to stop this! Tsukasa bought us sometime, but not enough. Not nearly enough. And now I don't know what to do."

          "Why don't you and Lord Orca team up with Tsukasa's group again?" the female warrior stated.

          "He doesn't want to become involved anymore. Who could blame him though? That poor kid was kept in a situation that no thought possible. He did enough under his circumstances and I'm grateful."

          "Then why don't you and Lord Orca team up? You two are the best in the World, right? This should be a piece of cake for the two of you." She answered.

          "He looked back and his emerald eyes showed pain. "I haven't heard from him. I'm afraid he's no longer with us."

          "No…you have to be kidding me…" her own eyes widened. "Lord Orca…was…data drained?"

          "Maybe. I'm not sure, but he might be like Sieg now." His voice was soft and mournful at the same time. "We can just hope and pray that when we defeat this thing they'll be spared as well." He turned toward her, his wings rustling as he moved. "Savana, I would like to join you."

          "What?" she took a step back.

          "We're both after the same thing. We should work together instead of against each other. Besides, with me on your side we can tackle higher dungeons and you can go up levels faster." He explained. "Please."

          Savana was thoroughly surprised that Balmung of the Azure Sky was asking for _her_ help. "Why…" as she started he looked up at her. "Why do you want me? Most people would laugh if I told them I had Lord Balmung in my directory. You almost never see a person of your level willingly helping a newbie."

          He smiled, and then chuckled. "First off, I won't call you a newbie. Naïve maybe, but not a newbie. Your level's too high. Second, the World is just like the real world. There are nice people out there. Not everybody's out to get you, although there are P-Killers and Admin takes care of them. And third," he paused to take the time to walk past her. "Maybe I think you're cute."

          "Balmung…" she murmured as her cheeks began to flush.

          "So de we have a deal?" he asked as she turned back to look at him.

          She smiled. "Yes."

          "Alright." He smirked again in satisfaction. "Here's my member address. Contact me when you get on tomorrow." He paused again and his smirk dropped into a smile. "Good night Savana."

          "Good night!" she called as he gated out. She sighed. "Man, how do I explain this one? Balmung, you are one unique guy. And I don't mean that just because you have wings." Her lips formed a smile. "But, he's willing to help, and he knew Sieg That's reason enough to work with him." Glancing at her watch she momentarily freaked. "It's almost midnight?! Where the last three hours go?!"

-*END CHAPTER TWO*-


	4. Crimson Lightning and Angel Wings

            I am –SO- sorry! To all of you that have been waiting for me to finish this, I apologize. This story has been sitting in the back of my mind for so long and I finally got a chance to work on it again. Once I get to chapter five, I'll start posting my .dothack//DUSK story, but for now let me get back to this. Man, what's a busy-high-school anime-lovesick author to do?

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Chapter Three: Crimson Lightning and Angel Wings

_Cause when there's you, I feel whole_

_                        And there's no better feeling in the World…_

Despite her sheer exhaustion, Tawna was awake and alert the next day, with all her homework turned in. She couldn't wait for the day to end so she could go home and play the World. She hadn't had a partner since Sieg and the thought of playing with somebody was actually exciting. When the bell rang she was the first one out of the building.

          Hardly catching her breath as she pulled the laptop out from underneath the bed, she tapped the plug into the wall and slipped the visors on.

          With no mail, she logged straight into the World. "Okay. Now, let's see if this flashmail works." She brought up the other window and waited.

          "Hey. I'll be there in a second."

          In the next moment he gated into Mac Anu.

          "So what's the plan?" Balmung asked hurriedly.

          "How about a 'good afternoon?' It's nice to see you too!" Savana snapped.

          "I don't have time for this." In a swift movement he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the chaos gate.

          They stumbled through into an abandoned area. Savana fell up against Balmung, her head resting against the soft white fluff covering his left shoulder. Suddenly her amber eyes opened wide as she realized what she was doing. Blushing badly she jumped out of his gentle embrace to find a hue of crimson in his own pale cheeks.

          "Balmung, why'd you bring me here?"

          "I can't stay in the Aqua capital for long. I draw to much attention to myself. I just picked an area to jump into." He explained.

          She sighed as she turned away. "Sorry. I'm just tired and really irritable today."

          "So I've noticed." He muttered, turning away.

          "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

          "I said you couldn't even notice." Looking over one shoulder he smiled at her sheepishly.

          "Do you have any plans for today?" The female blademaster asked, smiling slightly.

          "Not for a while. Why?" he shrugged indifferently, as if holding all the power he had was nothing to him.

          "Then do you want to go check out a level that Sieg was last seen at?"

          His ivory eyebrows raised and his face grew serious. "Sure."

          "Man," the woman swordsman gulped. "Level 28. I'm way in over my head."

          "You'll be fine. You've got me, remember?" Balmung's hand flew to his blade.

          "Well than prove your worth!" she told him shakily as three Mu Guardians appeared out of nowhere.

          "Fine with me." With one swipe of his mighty blade, he ripped through two of the metal monsters

          "How do you fight these things?!?" she yelled, defending herself with the length of her sword. Suddenly the steel armored mess pushed forward, sending Savana back on her butt on the soft sand. The guardian's red digital eyes flashed as it closed in on her.

          Balmung dashed over, thrusting his sword into the monster and watched it shatter into a million pieces.

          "That's twice you've saved my life." She stared up at him her amber eyes shining in gratitude.

          "No problem." He extended a hand and helped her up.

          "Wow." For the first moments since they arrived they got to stare at the area. The sky matched that of the corrupted temple they had visited the night before, but the ground are was much like a desert with nothing but sand stretching for miles.

          "It's kind of eerie, but at the same time beautiful."

          "I agree." Balmung's tenor voice was soft and deep and his slight touch on her arm made her blush. "It doesn't look all that out of place, does it? And there seems to be no one here."

          They approached the dungeon by going through wave after wave of constant battles. Savana learned how to fight against the odd but extremely powerful Mu Guardians and her EXP paid heavily. The dungeon itself was crawling with all kinds of monsters. The blademasters cut their way through floor by floor. Playing along side Balmung felt just like it had with Sieg and for the first time in a while Savana felt confident about her abilities. When they reached the Gott statue on the 5th floor, the winged swordsman insisted she open the treasure and take the credit.

          "You didn't have to do that." She told him as they walked back to the entrance.

          "You need it more than I do. What level are you now?" he seemed a little distracted but nonetheless pleased.

          "26." She replied happily. "And at least now we've got items to trade."

          "Yeah you need a sword stronger than level 8." He smiled. "But you're doing very well."

          A sudden sound went off above them.

          "What is it?" Savana asked, looking up at him.

          He shook his head, ivory hair flying into his eyes. "I have to go." His voice was a mix of surprise and urgency. A gold column surrounded him and then he was gone.

          "Balmung! Oh, come on! I can't gate out from here!" Savana clenched her fists as she walked through the dungeon and finally found her way back to the exit.

          "I wouldn't go out there if I were you."

          She turned from the massive doorway, for the first time realizing she was not alone in the dimly lit room.

          "There's a nasty sandstorm outside."

          "Who are you guys?" the blademaster turned, staring at the two men.

          "I'm Crim, master of the heavy spear." The one speaking wore a long red and gold jacket and pants. A blue symbol of the sun covered his pale, muscular chest. He had spiky navy blue hair on top of his head with a long ponytail in back. His amber eyes glinted in the shadows.

          "Man, do you always introduce yourself like that?" his friend grinned.

          "Yeah? So?" Crim cried defensively.

          "Nah. It's just toward the ladies." He told Savana with a smile.

          "I DO NOT!!!"

          His friend laughed. "I'm Hiko." He held up a hand in greeting. "A heavy blade."

          This man wore long black shorts and a vest showing off his tan muscular chest. A purple kanji was imprinted o his forehead, the same color as his amethyst eyes. His long silky black hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and onyx bangs shadowed his face.

          "The only one left to introduce themselves is you, little lady." Crim winked.

          "I'm Savana, a blademaster." She said suscpiciously.

          "You don't need to be afraid of us Savana. We're not P-killers." Hiko smiled as if reading her mind.

          "On the contrary, we hunt P-killers." Crim yawned, boredly twirling his spear.

          "And why are you here?" Hiko asked her out of casual conversation.

          "This may sound a bit crazy," she blushed. "But I was going through this dungeon with Balmung."

          "Balmung?" Crim raised his navy blue eyebrows.

          "Man, it's been a while since we formed a party with him!" Hiko whistled.

          "Tell me about it." The long-arm murmured, his amber eyes softening as he dropped his voice.

          "You guys know him?!" Savana gaped, her own golden eyes widening.

          "Yeah. It's-"

          "A long story." Crim cut in, glaring at his friend. He looked over, his eyes widening slightly as a slight smile touched his lips. "Hey, there you are."

          The blademaster blinked taken back and turned to see a woman walking toward them, coming in from outside. She wore a beautiful jade top with sheer emerald sleeves that fell off her shoulders. A pair of khaki pants clung tight to her legs, a silver belt falling diagonally across her waist to rest against her thigh. She had long sky blue hair that fell to her waist and bright amethyst eyes that glinted in the dim light. She was holding a magician's staff under one arm that tapped against the ground lightly as she stopped.

          "Hi." Savana waved to her, but the women just stopped straight in front of her, her pretty face a mask.

          "Did you say you knew Lord Balmung?"

          The crimson-headed warrior nodded. "Yeah. Why do you want to know?"

          "Hikaru, don't even start." Crim growled a warning.

          "Yeah, she's cool. Just let it go." Hiko added, crossing his muscular arms.

          "I want to know because Balmung just happens to be my big brother." She replied, brushing a strand of her hair off her shoulder.

          "Your…brother?!" The female swordsman blinked as the woman walked even closer. As the woman turned, she nodded toward Crim, but Savana's eyes widened as she saw the wings coming out of Hikaru's back, white feathers that fell past her waist to make her look like even more of a heavenly angel.

          "He isn't my real brother you know." The wavemaster rolled her eyes. "But from the first day I played this game he's looked out for me. He adopted me, in a way. He helped me edit my character, and gave me my wings. So," she dropped her voice to an almost threatening growl. "When I ask what business you have with Balmung you better damn well tell me."

          "Fine. Your brother is helping me in an investigation. A friend of mine is sick and we're trying to figure out what could have caused it."

          "Yeah right." Hikaru snorted. "You're probably one of those girls who hang off his every word, one of those little prissy girls who annoys him till he crumbles and lets you stay by his side. Don't you think he has enough to do?!"

          "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Crim stepped forward, seriousness written all over his face.

          "Crim…" the sorcerer gritted her teeth.

          "Hikaru, Savana means no harm. Let her be. Savana," he turned to her with a smile. "Hikaru cares about Balmung a lot. He means everything to her."

          "He does not and you know it!" at that a crimson filled her cheeks. "Why are you so-"

          Without warning the male warrior wrapped his arms around Hikaru, her face leaning against his bare chest. "You need to stop taking everything so seriously." He told her softly.

          "Don't mind them." Hiko whispered to Savana, a bright smile on his face. "They fight all the time. But they've been together for about three months now. Ever since… Crim, got over Subaru…" he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to blush at the sudden touch. "Crim, we have to get going. Kei's probably waiting for us."

          "The sandstorm stopped, so we can leave whenever." Hikaru smiled.

          "Yeah, Kei probably is wondering where we are." Crim smirked. "But then again, he is the blondest person I know."

          "Well ladies, it's been real! See ya!" Hiko picked up his massive sakabatou sword and headed out to the lobby.

          "Yeah, we have to get going." Crim leaned down, dropping a kiss on the wavemaster's forehead. "I'll see you later." He replied softly, squeezing her shoulder slightly before stalking out.

          Hikaru watched him go before she sighed. Her eyes fell back on the blademaster, studying her for a moment. "Savana, huh?"

          Not wanting to argue, she solemnly nodded and followed her back to Dun Lorieag.

          "Keep up with me, and make sure nobody follows you. You got that?"

          Again another solemn nod as she dashed behind the winged player. 

Past the Grunty ranch there was a ledge that led up the side of the nearest mountain. The dirt path was seemingly brand new and spiraled around the huge rock, curving one way and then the other. Following Hikaru was difficult, especially since she could hover off the grounds, using the breeze to push her forward as she spread her wings.

At the top was a fortress of sorts, hidden by the cloud cover from the city level. And yet the clouds were thin enough to see the town through a gray white haze, as if the earth below was covered in fog.

The building was like a stone castle that was held up with supports against the sloping ground. It was a beautiful structure and Savana had no doubt whom it belonged to.

"This is Balmung's castle, where he comes when he has nothing to do or when he just wants to relax. Few people can come to this place; there are usually magic portals all along the road to get here and most players get in the lost fog. But this place exists, for those Balmung let see it." The wavemaster explained, looking at the building in admiration and pride.

"It's really pretty here." Savana said after a moment, hoping it was safe to speak up again.

She just responded with a nod before ducking her head. "Savana, answer me truthfully- how do you feel about Balmung? What is he to you?" Hikaru shook her head, long pieces of bright blue flying up over her shoulders. "I only ask because he is to important to me. But over me, he is more important to this place, to this world. If something happened to him like what happened to Lord Orca, I don't think there would be anyway to explain it to the millions of people who play this game." She explained before rolling her eyes. "That and the girls who think they are nothing but his personal fan club. They're just asking to be PKed."

The swordsman looked off onto the hazy view of the city, a bright smile on her face. "You have nothing to worry about from me, Hikaru. Balmung is just a friend of mine. He's a great guy, and I can tell how much this place needs. He reminds me of those Great War generals that lead the people on in the hard times. Everyone leads on him for support, and I can openly say I'm one of those people." She laughed slightly. "It still amazes me. The fact that a newbie character could team up with such a legend still makes me feel like I'm just dreaming. He's been the best of help." She looked down her cheeks burning with heat and crimson. "And I will admit too- he certainly isn't bad looking. But, I just met him. There is nothing between us, other then we are trying to solve this problem about my friend and Lord Orca." She sighed as if relieved she got all this off her chest and even Tawna leaned back against her bed.

"I see…" a long silence fell between them. "Savana, I have no doubt that what you told me was the truth. I'm sorry to have yelled at you earlier." She turned looking straight at her with a smile that made her pretty face seem to shine. "I hope you accept my apology and that someday we can be friends."

"Hikaru… There was nothing wrong with what you did. He's your brother, it's not like you were interfering. You had a right to know. I won't hold it against you." She held out her hand. "Friends?"

The wavemaster stared at her hand before nodding, beaming at her. "Friends." She responded as they shook on it.


	5. Feline Antics

            Okay, I've decided against putting up my dusk story until I'm finished with this one. I don't want to give away any spoilers. I'm hoping to have chapter five up soon, but I just got OUTBREAK, and I need to play that so I can work on the rest of the story I have written down on paper. I hope you all have fun reading this and I appreciate your patience while I get this thing typed up

**Chapter Four: Feline Antics**

            _But without you, I'm alone…_

_            And I'd rather be in love…_

"Man this is so awesome. I got Hikaru's member address last night." Tawna yawned as she sat down at her desk the next morning. "I reached a dead end with the information on Tomonari, but at least I'm making friends." She rested her chin on her forearms as she slumped in her seat, sighing. "He'd probably freak if he realized I'm online everyday. I never told him that-"

            "Tawna!" a short black streak of energy dashed toward her, slamming her small hands on the desk to stop herself from a dead run.

            "Ohiyo HiRelena." She said tiredly, another yawn overtaking her.

            "Moshi Moshi! I've been meaning to ask," the girl's emerald eyes lit up. "What have you been doing after school? You keep getting here in the morning really early and your always exhausted." She leaned forward, a mischievous glance covering her face. "Do you have a boyfriend now or something?"

            "No!" Tawna cried, a hot blush covering her face as an image of Balmung raced through her mind. "No of course not! What gave you that idea?!"

            "Come on Tawny. I'm your best friend. You'll know I'll find out, one way or another." The smaller girl crossed her arms.

            "Okay, okay. I'll tell you at lunch." She told her, her face still the color of scarlet.

            Trying to focus when you have a thought nagging at you makes everything frustrating. For Tawna, sitting through class when a question plagued her mind was a slow mental torture.

            'Why did I think about him all of sudden, and especially when Lena mentioned the fact of a boyfriend? There is no way I could think of him like that…. There couldn't be…'

            When the bell finally rang for lunch, Tawna sighed as she hopped up from her desk and looked over at HiRelena who met her gaze with a slight nod. They left the rest of their class and went to sit on the steps at the entrance to the school as her friend bounded along behind her.

            "So, you going to explain it, or what?" she asked cheerfully as she swung her legs slightly, sitting up on the wall by the steps.

            "I'm sorry that I haven't been social lately." She paused, ducking her head. "Do you remember when Tomonari passed out a week ago?"

            "Yeah. He hasn't woken yet, has he?"

            She shook her head. "I think…the World did it."

            "The World? That kawaii internet roleplay?" the smaller girl tilted her head and blinked in confusion.

            "Something about that game isn't right…and Tomonari was playing it when he passed out. So I took a laptop from G-Study so I could play at him. There are things in that world that aren't right… something's wrong there and it seems to affect the real world. I've seen it."

            "Oh, so that's where…" HiRelena broke out into a wide grin. "Oh man, you are going to be so busted… the G-Study advisor thinks that computer was stolen…"

            Tawna cringed. "I'll give it back. I'm just not done with it yet." She sighed before smiling slightly. "I did meet a couple of people there though."

            "Uh ha! I knew it! You met a guy!"

            She pushed a strand of crimson hair out of her golden eyes. "Yes, a guy."

            "A cute guy?"

            She couldn't help but smile. "…Yes."

            "I knew it! I knew it I knew it!" her friend cried, giggling. "I win Tawny, you lose!"

            The other girl just sighed good-naturedly and jerked her head up at the sound of the bell. "We better get back to class!"

            "We can't be late!" The other girl hopped off the ledge and ran ahead. "Come on, let's go!"

            Tawna caught up easily as they raced through the crowds gathered on each side of the hallways.

            "Hey, you going to be online tonight?" HiRelena asked as they took the steps three at a time.

            "I usually play right after school." She responded, raising her voice above the chatter of the people standing around.

            "Okay… Savana right?" 

            The redheaded junior slowed down as they turned the corner, their classroom just down the hall. "Yeah, of course."

            "Just like your story." She beamed. "Savana is like you isn't she? You relate her to you."

            "That's the way I see it." She shrugged, grinning sheepishly.

            "My character will probably be-" Her answer was cut off by the sound of the bell ringing.

            When Tawna got home from school there was an e-mail waiting for her.

-If you log on today, flashmail me. I'll be waiting.

                                                                                    _Balmung of the Azure Sky_-

            "Great." A broad smile spread across her face, before she double blinked at a message that had suddenly appeared.

            -Hey. This is Hiko. If you don't have anyone to partner up with, IM me. I'll be in Mac Anu. Later!-

            "He's such a sweetheart. I realized there are a lot of nice people playing. Speaking of-" She opened her address book. "I still have to e-mail Raquel. I should probably ask Balmung first though. She probably could be considered one of his fan girls."

Savana sighed as she answered her flashmail. She had just arrived in Dun Lorieag after send an e-mail to Balmung.

"Hey." His voice responded. "I'm in the following area. Come meet me here."

Jumping back into the chaos gate, she materialized in a field of tall grass, overlooked by a starry night sky.

"Good afternoon." A voice behind her made her jump. "Although I can't really call this afternoon. How have you been?"

She smiled up at him. "A little tired, but otherwise I'm fine."

"Sorry I left yesterday. But, I got us a new lead. And this-" he paused to unsheathe a second sword from his waist and toss it to her. "Is for you."

Savana caught the sword in her hands, gripping the handle with her fingers. "This is the 7 Star Sword. It's a level 21 blade!" she replied after a moment, her eyes wide.

Balmung shrugged indifferently. "It was one of my starting swords. It should give you a well-needed boost. Just think of it as an apology for leaving unannounced yesterday."

"I didn't mind. I met your sister and Hiko. Oh, and Crim too."

The man's emerald eyes widened in surprise. "Hikaru?" As she nodded he lowered his head, as if in shame. "I haven't spoken to her in weeks. How is she?"

"Fine. She seemed to be in a party with the men she was with. She and Crim seemed happy together." Her gaze looked down, realizing something was wrong and found her eyes locked on the blade she held. "Balmung, I couldn't take this from you. This is a really expensive weapon. And if it's one of your starting swords, it must be very important to you."

"Savana…" Balmung walked over, a gentle smile on his face. His hand wrapped around hers. "I want you to keep it. I'm serious. Yes, it's a very important sword to me, but that's only because you own it now." He watched her tan cheeks flush in embarrassment as she tried to duck her face to hide her emotions. He reached out, his other hand running across her cheek to keep her focused on him. She looked up slowly, her eyes meeting his. "Look, I can't always be there. I need to know you'll be okay when you're on your own. There are a lot of strong players and some of them can use their strength to their advantage. Although I don't see that happening, it's still possible."

Tawna's heart was racing in her chest as he spoke and her entire face was blood red. She swallowed finding her own throat unbelievably dry. "Balmung…I…"

"TAWNA!!!"

Savana jerked away, her amber eyes widening. "Who?"

A circle of light appeared out of nowhere, and with it a small wavemaster. She was shorter then most teenage girls, but she had a cute almost ditzy expression to her. Her shiny black hair was pulled back in buns on either side of her head, her bangs hanging down into emerald eyes that seemed oddly familiar. She wore a shear ocean blue dress that shadowed the skin and cloth underneath before abruptly stopping at ankle length. Two slits up each side revealed her slender legs, perfect for the frail figure that seemed to suit a wavemaster. Silver cat ears poked through her hair, an unusual twist to a character, and if that wasn't enough a long gray tail curved around from behind her, resting lightly on the grass.

"Wow Tawna. Savana turned out really good." The girl twirled her staff. "Just like from your story. So, what do you think of mine?"

"….HiRelena?!" Recognition finally set in. "Your character looks awesome!" Savana smiled. "You're a wavemaster, go figure."

"She's a hacker." Balmung replied after a minute in a cold voice.

"How'd you know?" the female blademaster blinked.

"Cat characters are strictly against CC rules. She could be expelled if she's caught." He snorted. "Pathetic."

"It's not my problem the Edit Character mode sucks. I just changed it a little that's all." The catgirl hissed. "Besides I'm not all cat, so I'm just like you, angel boy."

The swordsmaster gritted his teeth. "Don't compare me to you. The administrators gave my remake to me long ago, for winning an event quest. It's ironic though that I could turn you into those same administrators right now, and they'd thank me for it."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't do it, because I'm Savana's best friend. And besides, it's not like I couldn't log out before you notified Admin." She stretched her arms boredly.

He smirked. "What makes you think I'm not writing them a note right now?"

HiRelena whimpered. "You wouldn't!" she clutched on to Savana's arm. "You know it's kind of amazing that you know the winged descendant of Fianna. If he lost his scary attitude, he'd be kinda hot."

Savana sighed while Balmung just rolled his eyes. "Please."

"I'm serious." The little catgirl replied. "I'm not going to step on my best friend's toes though." She shot a glance at the female blademaster. "Besides with 25 million other players, there's gotta be a guy out there for me." She paused as if she had said to much. "Well, I'm gonna go level up. Standing around a level 26 and a level 60 makes me feel like a novice. See ya!"

"Are all your friends insane?" he asked as the catgirl gated out.

"No." she smiled, staring off to where the golden circle light had surrounded the wavemaster and whisked her away. Suddenly her amber eyes widened. "Oh, Balmung. I forgot to ask. Do you mind if we partner up with this girl I know, sometime? I met her in this game and she's really nice."

"No, I don't see it as a problem. I mean if HiRelena's the worst, I think I'll be alright, Tawna."

She blushed, her mouth falling open slightly at the call of her real name. "How did you-" she sighed. "HiRelena."

"It's alright. I won't call you by your real name." He put a hand on her shoulder, changing the subject automatically. "Come on, I'll explain what I found out."

"Can we level?" she asked eagerly, making him smile slightly and return her question with a simple nod.

"Man this place is so cool!" HiRelena bounded through a sunny, level 4 area. The catgirl stretched and yawned in the blinding sunlight. "And it's awesome the Tawna knows Balmung. That's crazy." Twirling her staff she grinned. "Even though she knows him, he's still an idiot. A big uncaring idiot. But it seems like he takes care of her so…"

"Hey, you!" turning, she saw a group of men standing ten feet behind her. She had been vaguely aware that they had been trailing her since she left Mac Anu. "You're a hacker!" on of the men shouted.

"Whatever are you talking about?" she asked innocently, blinking her big emerald eyes. "I'm just a newbie."

"You can't fool us." He snarled. "We hate hackers and we kill hacker players! Prepare yourself!" the leader of the group yelled as the mob charged her.

Wavemasters are powerful, but against a crowd of axeman they're nothing. Trying to escape was pointless once battle mode was on, and because of her level she was quickly taken down and on the verge of dying with just a stroke or two from a hatchet blade.

'Someone…' the young woman coughed, her eyes blurring over. "Help!"  
            Suddenly a section of the crowd disappeared, letting light in on the injured girl. "What the hell are you guys doing to her?" A man's tenor voice hissed.

"Sir!" the leader bowed slightly. "We found another one!"

The group seemed to back up as he made his way toward her. HiRelena's eyes opened slightly and met a pair that matched her own, a deep green with dark jade hues. She smiled weakly up at him. "Hi."

The young man was taken back by this. "Goro, you idiot!" he barked to what had seemed to be the leader a few minutes before. "How can you pick on a level two player? Even if she's still a hacker, that's wrong!"

The man known as Goro cringed. "Sorry, Lord Keita."

"Everyone get back!" Keita demanded, his platinum ponytail swishing as he turned. He pulled the injured cat woman onto his lap. "Repth!" A blue light surrounded them both, healing her wounds. "Are you alright? Can you stand?" he asked her worriedly.

HiRelena sat back, blinking her big green eyes. She stared at him for a moment before leaping forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you! I was so scared! I didn't want to die!"

The man blushed, his golden tan cheeks going a deep crimson. He rested his arms on her back. "It's alright. You're quite strong, for a little girl."

"I'm sixteen, I'll have you know." She teased playfully sitting back, her tail flicking against the grass. "And my name's HiRelena."

He swallowed. "I'm, Keita. Seventeen." He stood, pulling her up with him. He stared at her for a minute before his eyes grew colder, and his face serious. "Well HiRelena, it was nice meeting you." He said softly as he turned on her.

"Hey, wait!" she called as he stalked off. "I-"

"You were let off easy this time. You're a hacker." He looked over his shoulder, his narrowed glance directed at her. "I hate hackers." He looked over to his men. "Goro! Jita! Back to headquarters, now!"

The men nodded and then the entire crowd was gone in a circle ring of golden light.

The wavemaster stood there for a minute, motionless. "So he thinks I'm weak and he hates me just because I'm a hacker. He doesn't even know me…" she flicked her tail as her ears twitched. "I'll give him a chance to get to know me."

"Savana, you never cease to amaze me." Balmung smiled as they exited another dungeon.

"I'm glad you think so." She smiled back at him, blushing slightly. Just as she went to open her mouth a loud beeping sound went off above them.

"Who is it?" he asked after a moment, realizing Tawna had pulled away from her character to read the e-mail.

"HiRelena." She sweatdropped. "I can't believe she's still online. It's nearly three in the morning."

"We're still awake and coherent." The male blademaster pointed out.

"True." She sighed. "She says she found this guy."

"Not surprising." He yawned. "She was kinda cute."

Savana gritted her teeth as she landed a kick to his shin. "You asshole…"

He blinked his dark emerald eyes. "Was that supposed to hurt?" he asked ignorantly.

"What?" the girl's amber eyes widened. "The guy she's talking about…she say she's going to go fight him." She bit down on her lip as she read on, worry rising inside of her. "She says he's the leader of a group that hates hackers."

Balmung sighed, the deep green orbs on his face narrowing. "That's Keita's clan. She's in danger." Without warning he grabbed her hand, practically dragging her as she strode toward the entrance. 

"What are you doing?!" she hissed, surprised by his forceful grip on her.

"We don't have a lot of time. I know where he is. Come on, we have to beat her there." He explained in monotone, to focused on the problem at hand.

"Keita, hmm?" she sighed. Why did that name sound so familiar?

"So, how many did we take out today, My Lord?" an older boy asked his silver-haired leader.

"Huh?" Keita blinked, finally registering that he was being spoken to. "Twenty-two, I think."

"Twenty-five" Goro smiled slightly, automatically correcting him. "Are you alright My Lord? You seem…distracted."

"I'm fine." He replied immediately, his fingers softly rubbing his temples.

"You're still not thinking about that girl, are you?" His lower general persisted.

"Of course not." Keita snapped as another reoccurring thought of that cute face and twitching feline ear were brought into mind. Was he that easy to read that his servants could tell what he was thinking?

Goro smirked; his liquid brown eyes nothing but trouble. "I think you're lying."

The silver-haired blademaster leaped up from his chair, a hand rising to grip his sword handle. "Watch your mouth." He sneered. "I will not tolerate backtalk, especially from one who has already treaded on dangerous ground today. Your strength does not exceed mine and your axe is no match for my sword. So back down Goro before you lose a full day of work that you can no longer make up."

He watched his commander swallow and nod his head slightly. His words had been harsh there was no doubt and he could feel the tension of fear throughout the men that were in his throne room. The young boy who has asked the question bowed his head before finally looking up. "B-But sir," he stammered. "We are all wondering if you are alright. You have seemed a little out of it today." He jerked his head down again, as if speaking his opinion was now something he regretted. "We all worry about you My Lord!" he said finally.

Keita smiled down at him. "Gryphor," he said, calling the boy by his name. "I thank you and everyone else for your kindness and for caring about me as you say you do. You don't have to fear me either, nor do any of the rest of you. This is not a dictatorship; I do not run this clan with an iron fist. You all come and go as you please. In fact, it was some of the newbie axeman that came up with calling me Lord. I would never have thought about it. I'm happy to have you all here." His tone changed suddenly demanding everyone's attention like the leader he had become. " But understand this. Those of you that stay will not cross me. I will not have anyone telling me what is in my head or my heart. As a human I am granted that and as your commander I demand it. Now-"

"Sir!" the doors to the throne room were thrown open and one of the outside guards came dashing in. "There's a woman at the entrance demanding to see you!"

"You need better men Keita." A feminine voice called softly as a figure stood in the doorway. "They're rather easy to take down."

"…HiRelena…" his eyes widened in shock.

Goro gritted his teeth. "You killed my guards?!"

"I didn't kill anyone. I would never stoop to your level!" The girl hissed, her eyes brimming with tears. "I spent all afternoon, thinking and leveling. And there's two things I realized I wanted to say." She looked straight at him, her hurt expression puncturing something deep inside him. "I hate you Keita!" she yelled. "Why do you hate hackers so much?!"

"How dare you speak to our lord like that!" Gryphor stood, twirling the axe handle between his fingers.

"Men!" Goro yelled as the soldiers gathered in the room took up their weapons. "Take the opportunity to finish what Keita couldn't! Kill that wench!"

The wavemaster simply jumped out of the on rush of men. "You're in for it now. MeAni Kruz!" a wave of dark magic flooded into the room like a black fog, dropping on the axemen. "And just so you don't go anywhere-" she pulled a scroll out, casting a paralyzing spell on the small army.

"What?!" Goro stepped back, crying in defeat at his fallen men.

"She's at a much higher level now." Keita's voice was all seriousness. He had recovered from the shock of seeing her again only to discover her words had hurt more than any of the previous pain his character had endured. It leaked straight through his character, into his own heart. "Let me guess," he started again, determined to ask and stay focused. "Quick level gain?"

"That's for you to find out." She shot back.

"Come on Lord Keita. It's just a little girl. You can defeat her easily." Goro swallowed, looking back and forth between the two.

The room had become crowded from the men who had rushed in to see what was going on. His followers expected him to fight but no one dared talk or move. Sighing, their young leader drew his sword, down casting his eyes. 

"I will kill you because you're at fault!"

"If that's how you believe it is!"

Keita rushed the catgirl, who blocked his blade with her staff and hissed, striking with one hand and digging her feline claws into her opponent's arm. Alarmed the blademaster pulled back, noticing the blood staining through his long white silk jacket. "You-"

"ENOUGH!"

"Savana…" HiRelena's evergreen eyes widened as she jerked her head to the left. "What are you doing here?!"

"Lord Balmung…" Goro gaped, while many of the men around the room dropped to their knees in respect.

"Lena," the crimson-headed woman ran over to her friend. "What the hell are you doing?"

The wavemaster stared at her staff before her trembling hands dropped it on the floor. "I don't even think I knew. But, it hurt…what he said to me…"

"What was it? Explain yourself." Balmung insisted walking forward in a threatening move that made the catgirl whimper softly.

"Well this afternoon I was attacked by a group of men. And Keita saved me. He came to my rescue, just when I thought I was dead. But then he said…he was letting me off the hook, and that he hated all hackers…" her ears flattened on her head. "He doesn't even know me! How does he get to judge me when we've just met! He knows nothing about me! I came to show him that all hackers aren't bad! I came here to prove him wrong!"

"I'm not wrong. People tampering with things they shouldn't are wrong! And you're no different!" he glared at her.

"Who are you to tell me that I'm wrong?!" she snapped back. "What have hackers ever done to you anyway?!"

There was a show of pain on his face. It was evident for just a moment before he hid it behind his narrowed, hating eyes. "Plenty!" he said through gritted teeth. "If it hadn't been for one hacker in particular, my little sister would still be alive!"

"Your sister?" Savana murmured, her amber eyes as wide as saucers.

"Keita…" Balmung lowered his head, adverting his gaze as if hearing this was almost unbearable.

"My sister, Nari, would be fifteen next month. But she never made it to her eighth birthday. She was one of the seven victims that was killed from the Deadly Flash virus that hit the Internet hard in early January 2003. In case you don't know what it does, it sends high frequency flashes across the computer monitor, shutting down parts of the body and causing massive seizures and coma. Thousands of people survived through it, but Nari… was pronounced brain dead eighteen hours after she slipped unconscious." He kept his voice steady, but he swallowed, unclenching his hands, which had balled themselves into fists. "I lost my sister because of some, demented, sadistic hacker. The only thing that comforts me is the fact that that man now sits on death row." He paused to shake his head, his silver ponytail flying furiously behind him. "So now all of you know, exactly why this group was created. And as long as hackers manage to intercept this game, my favorite RPG, then I will continue to PK. Starting with the hacker in front of me." He redrew his sword. "We have to finish this."

HiRelena stepped forward without grabbing her staff. She stood just feet from him, her face hidden behind her long onyx bangs.

Savana swallowed. "Balmung, what do we do?" she whispered desperately.

His gaze didn't meet hers but instead stared at the catgirl's petite form. "Just wait."

"I-I'm sorry." The hacker's voice replied softly. The group watched as she lifted her head slightly, revealing her tear-stained cheeks. "I'm sorry about your sister. Savana and I… we keep losing people too, and they seem to hurt Savana more than they affect me. Her friend's in the hospital right now, and we don't know if he's ever going to wake up." She smiled over at her best friend. "You know, I've never really ever thought about it. I've been a hacker since middle school. I was always doing something stupid online, but nothing serious, nothing to get me in trouble. I don't think I'm a bad person because of what I do, and I think that's what I came here to show you. But like I said, who are you to tell me what's right and who am I to tell you? I'm a fool to think I could change things, to come here without knowing exactly why you did what you did. So, what're you going to do?"

The boy stared at her for a second as if processing what she had said. His hands began to shake; making it evident he had some doubt. Then he sighed, raised his blade and started his silent assault toward her.

"Lena!" Savana started toward her friend, when a strong arm grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to stand still.

"Just wait. Trust me." He said softly.

Lena closed her eyes and waited for the screen to start flashing GAME OVER. But as seconds passed the pulverizing never came. Confused, but more so curious, she opened one eye and then the other in surprise.

Keita stood just inches away, his sword sheathed at his side. His emerald eyes seem to shine for a second and he smiled slightly. "I couldn't do it." He admitted with a whisper.

The catgirl was so overcome with relief that her knees gave out on her and she collapsed on the ground. Savana rushed over, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl's body. "Thank the God and Goddess your okay!"

"You did well." Balmung told the other male blademaster. "I figured as much."

"Lord Keita!" Goro yelled. "What are you doing?!"

"My score, is not with HiRelena. She might be a hacker but she has no bad intentions. She spoke from her heart just now and was willing to give up her character if it meant I would be okay with killing her. She proved herself to me, and therefore she has nothing to do with us." He spoke calmly.

"But, My Lord-"

"Goro, I won't resort to killing innocent people! I have never laid my blade on one character that has not been a hacker. We shouldn't kill if we don't have to."

Goro gritted his teeth. "Then, you've turned against us?!"

"I never said that!"

Balmung glared at him, drawing his sword in one quick movement. "That's enough from you. Do you realize you could all be facing expellment from the Admin? The only reason you've been ignored this far is because Orca and I knew about Keita's true past. But now-" he shook his head, his shaggy white bangs flying into his face.

Savana stood up. "Keita I know that I know nothing about you. I'm grateful that you spared my best friend. So I ask your men instead; why resort to PKing? There are other solutions to problems."

"And what would The Lord's wench know of it?" one of the men sneered.

The winged blademaster started forward, his blade ready to kill the man in one swipe of his blade. The redheaded woman placed a hand across his armored chest, stopping him from going closer to the group that was already backing away in fear.

"Balmung is someone important to me, and nothing more then my friend." She blushed slightly, catching the sidelong glance he threw at her as she said that comment. "Can nobody answer my question?"

Their leader just shook his head, as it seemed the room was too afraid to talk.

"Damn, you people are so ignorant! Killing other players without a reason why! Kid, I can't believe you've been able to get away with it this far." Savana sighed.

Keita pursed his lips in thought. "Miss Savana, Lord Balmung, I thank you both for your help. Tonight has given me a lot to think about." He smiled, nodding at them. "Listen up!" he turned, barking orders to his men. "The rest of this is up to you! If you decide that you want to stay as a part of this group, send me an e-mail ASAP. Those of you that don't, I wish good luck to you. There will definitely be some changes around here. Goodnight everyone!" he yelled, dismissing them.

The four players watched the small army clear out of the room, feeling the tension gone. The catgirls's spell had worn off and now even the black fog had cleared letting the moonlight shine in the open window, as night had finally fallen in the root town of Mac Anu.

"HiRelena." It was Keita who spoke up as he knelt down beside her. "You know how you said, I had no right to judge you, because I don't even know you?" she nodded and his cheeks blushed. "Well, I was being a jerk. The more I think on it, the more I think you were right. If you'll let me, I would like to get to know you. Maybe I can help you level your character. It's up to you. It's the least I can do to say I'm sorry."

The wavemaster's emerald eyes lit up and her kitty ears twitched. "Yes!" she cried, pouncing him, her tail flicking happily. "That would be so cool!" Keita's cheeks went three shades of red but he wrapped his arms around her, holding her up against him.

Savana felt a hand on her shoulder. Not even bothering, she leaned back, resting her body against the hard armor covering Balmung's chest.

"He did the right thing." He whispered to her. Gloved fingers ran down her right arm, tickling her skin. "You can stop shaking now."

"I'm just relieved." She sighed, closing her eyes for a minute, as sleep seemed to call to her.

"Savana," she blinked hearing HiRelena speak her name. "I'm logging off. I'll call you tomorrow morning."

"Alright." The blademaster smiled wearily as she saw her friend vanish in a golden circle of light.

"I'm going to be getting off now as well." Balmung spoke up, stepping back from her. "Goodnight." He whispered to her as he disappeared.

"It's nice that you have such a nice relationship with Lord Balmung, Miss Savana." Keita smiled at her as she stood up.

"Please, just call me Savana." She shook her head. "I'm only sixteen Keita. It makes me sound old." She stared at him, her tone serious. "You better take good care of her."

"I promise I will." He nodded, answering her immediately.

"Well I'm logging out. But before I go, I have one question." She blinked, trying to remember. "Do you know a long arm named Crim? Or a heavy blade named Hiko?"

"If you're referring to the Crimson Lightning, no we've never met." He said wide-eyed.

"But I thought you could only use a name once in The World?"

"That's right."

She sighed. "I thought…. they said they were going to be meeting up with a guy…whose name was similar to yours." She shrugged. "Must have been my mistake."


	6. Double Mistake

To those of you who have been waiting, I'm SO sorry. My computer died, I don't have a new one yet and I hit a bad bad case of writer's block. But due to recent events in my life, I've started writing again, and will continue to until it's finished. Just be patient with me, it will all be up soon!

_Turn out the lights now…_

_To see is to believe_…

Tawna awoke on her that morning, sunlight streaming through the slits in the blinds. She vaguely was aware someone was banging on the door.

          "Tawna! Tawna, get up!"

          "Mom!" the young woman bolted up, her body wrapped in blankets and wires. 'The laptop's still out…'

          Shoving the computer and the visor under the covers she got up and unlocked the door.

          "Sorry Mom. I went to sleep with my headphones on." She smiled sheepishly.

          "Well finally. Good morning. It's eleven already." Her mother huffed, looking at her coldly. "I'm heading into work. Apparently some of the lines are down in the office and I have to go what work I can get done before deadline."

          "Alright. I'll see you later then."

          Her mother fidgeted for a moment. "Tawna, do you know anything about the phone line being disconnected? A couple of my clients said they couldn't get through to the house phone last week." She narrowed her eyes. "You haven't been on three-way, have you?"

          Tawna's heart had stopped in panic but she just shook her head innocently. "No Mom, I don't know what the deal is with the phone."

          "Alright then. I'll be back as soon as I can." Her face softened a bit but not all the suspicion had drained from her look

          "Alright. I'll see you then!" Tawna collapsed back on her bed as the front door slammed shut. "Damnit she's catching on and I haven't even found out anything yet."

          The phone rang, disrupting the silence. Startled Tawna looked at it for a moment, before she grabbed it off the ringer by her bed. "Hello?"

          "Tawna, it sucks!"

          "What sucks?" she said sleepily. "And why are you so coherent at this hour on a Saturday anyway Lena?"

          "Because I am." She giggled. "But anyway, I was online last night talking with Keita-kun and all of a sudden I got kicked off. Apparently 'The World' had a major malfunction last night and they had to shut it down."

          "What?" Tawna's golden eyes widened. "What happened? When's it coming back?"

          "I don't know. It was on the news this morning that there was a major phone line distribution. Keita called me and we talked for a while. The two of us are planning to go out tomorrow night."

          "That's cool." She yawned. "Let me know if you hear anything about the problem."

          "Yeah, just hope Balmung's okay, right?"

          She swallowed. "Yeah."

          "Well," the girl brightened. "I have to go help Mom with my chores. Will you be at school tonight?"

          "Yeah, I have to finish my homework first."

          "Alright then. Talk to you soon girl!"

          As she hung up, Tawna sighed. "Great. No fun today." Reaching onto the floor she grabbed her thick heavy math book. "Why do we get to have school on the weekends anyways?"

          After a day full of homework and then six hours of night school the junior was exhausted when she walked into the door. Still she found the effort to unbury the laptop from its hiding spot under the bed and log on, to still find 'The World' offline. Sighing and a little depressed of not being able to play, she slunk into bed, the laptop still up in running in the bed beside her.

          The beeping of the 'You have Mail' icon was what woke the girl up early the next morning. Groggily sitting up, she smiled through her sleep when she realized that the game was no back up and running. Looking over at her clock, she stared at the big digital numbers that read 8:00.

          "About time." She mumbled, pulling the laptop onto her lap and placing the visor on.

          The only mail she had was from HiRelena, stating that she was already online and that her and Keita were in Mac Anu at the time the letter was sent, which was 6:47. As soon as she was finished reading it, another e-mail popped up in her inbox.

          ~Hey, sorry, I'm not going to be able to see you today. I have other things to do offline.             -Balmung of the Azure Sky~

          She sighed. "Well there goes that idea." Logging in to the game, she checked over her member list. HiRelena and Keita were both online, but Lena had a busy icon up in her screen, so Tawna sent an e-mail to the silver-haired blademaster telling him that she was in Mac Anu and wanted to see them if they found the time. Staring at her member's list again, she was surprised to see Hiko's named was illuminated in white, meaning he was online and playing the game. Sending him a flashmail, she was surprised when she immediately got a response.

          "Hey, hold on. I'll be there in a moment."

          A circle of gold light appeared by the chaos gate and the handsome black-haired heavy blader appeared. "Hey, good morning."

          "Good morning to you too." She smiled as he walked up.

          "I was surprised to hear from you. I thought a pretty girl like you would be a once-chance meeting." He smiled at her.

          She blushed. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you either, or that you'd answer me if I called."

          "It's a man's duty to come to a lady's aid." He grinned. "Besides I'm always on."

          "Well have long have you been on? Couldn't be to long, because the game was down." 

          "I've been on seven hours and forty-six minutes." He told her. "Since right after the game came back up."

          Her jaw dropped. "Don't you sleep? Or do you live in someplace other than Japan and it's been day there all along?"

          "No, I live in Japan." He nodded. "But why waste time sleeping on the weekend when I can be playing? Sleep is what my classes are for on Monday."

          "I wish I could do that." She sighed.

          "Well, it's my last year before I got to college, and my grades are really good, so my teachers are pretty lenient with me. I can afford to sleep through the boring subjects."

          "You're a senior?" she cocked her head to the side. "What school do you go to?"

          "Yasashiima High*."

          The blademaster's mouth fell open. "N-No way! I go to that school! I'm a junior."

          He looked over her for a moment and then his amethyst eyes widened. "Wow, I didn't even recognize you, but now that you say something I know exactly who you are! It's been a while Saganachi!"

          She blushed. "W-Who are you?"

          "Take a guess. I didn't change to much, did I?" he asked.

          Looking at him for a moment she gasped, taking a step back. "Hiko…" There was only one Hiko she knew at her school and he had bright purple eyes and long flowing black hair. "Hiko Tobuowanai! Is that really you?"

          She couldn't believe that she was standing face to face with the most popular guy in school's online character. Good at sports, captain of the varsity soccer team and one of the few guys high on the social rank at school who was actually a nice guy, it was easy to see why he was the most talked about of the girls and the most envied of the guys. She could easily see Hiko in his character now, except for the kanji in his forehead, you could put him in his school uniform and it would be the same man, if you added his thin-framed glasses.

          He smiled. "Glad you remember me. We had English together last year, remember? You were the youngest kid in the class. That took a lot of courage."

          "Yeah I guess." Crimson hinted across her cheeks again. "B-But what are you doing playing online? Don't you have a soccer game to be playing? Or at least you could be hanging with your friends or your girlfriend."

          "Girlfriend?" he raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. I'm determined to get through school first before I worry about any of that. But yes, I was hanging online with some friends, and no I don't play soccer on the weekends for the school. Sunday is a day to myself." Suddenly, his face darkened. "I've been wanting to talk with you anyway. Is it true you've been hanging around Balmung a lot lately?"

          "Yeah, he's a friend of mine. What's up?" she asked.

          "Man you guys better be more careful. There was a post on the board this morning, threatening anyone who got near Balmung. The Admin deleted it immediately, but a couple of us read it. As long as you're near him, you're being watched." He sighed, running his fingers through his onyx bangs. "I really do feel sorry for that guy. I don't see how he can stand to play the game when people are constantly trying to hunt him down. That would drive me nuts."

          "So, does Crim go to our school?" Savana asked, wanting to change the subject. The fact of being watched by a group of jealous girls was something she definitely didn't want.

          "Nah. I just met him on the net. He and I were in the same area and he came up and asked if I wanted to go through the dungeon with him. We've been friends since. He doesn't get a lot of play time in, but when he is around we're a team to reek havoc." He grinned.

          "I see." She nodded. "So, another thing. You said you know Kei-"

          "Savana!"

          Turning she saw her cat-girl wavemaster friend and her new boy walking up the bridge toward the Chaos gate. Lena let go of Keita to jump over in front of her friend. "Good morning."

          "Hey, you all got my message." She grinned.

          "Yeah, and after she heard, it took us forever to find you. Mac Anu is so big." Keita pointed out. "Hello Savana." He nodded his head in greeting.

          "Nice to see you again Keita." She smiled. "Guys, I want you to meet Hiko. Hiko, this is HiRelena and Keita."

          "Ah, the same Hirelena from school. Hyper active as always I see." The heavy blader smiled down on her.

          "Nyao?" the cat ears twitched. "Do I know you or something?"

          "You should since you used to be the boy's soccer manager." At the still vacant expression he sighed. "You don't even recognize your captain."

          Her green eyes widened. "Hiko-Hiko, nyao, nyao!" she exclaimed, running over to hug him. "Didn't think I'd see you no mores after I quit the team. I thought you were mad at me."

          "Course not." He smiled. "Nice to see you again."

          "You all go to the same school?" Keita blinked.

          "Yeah, Yasashiima." Savana nodded.

          "Well that bites. I go to Ichidgo ** on the other side of the city." He sighed.

          "It's okay Keita-kun! That's still not too bad." HiRelena cried hugging the blademaster again.

          "Okay a quick question." Savana cut in. "Hiko, Keita, do you know each other?"

          They looked at one another. "No, we've never met." They both said almost at the same time, breaking out in smiles.

          "Then who's the Keita that you said you knew, the first time I met you?" she looked at Hiko.

          He chuckled. "You mean Kei. He's a friend of mine from school. He's online right now, so you can meet him." A second later a beep went off, telling everyone nearby that the heavyblader had sent a flashmail. He got a response almost as fast. "Kei!" he called out into thin air. "Stop making out with Ramia and get your butts here!"

          Moments later a circle of light appeared and took the form of a strict-looking blonde-headed woman. She wore a short black shirt showing off her toned belly and simple purple pants. A large scythe was held in one hand while the other came to rest firmly on her hips. Her amber eyes narrowed. "Hiko, I can't believe you would have the nerve to say something like that in a flashmail. What could you want right now?"

          Suddenly another form appeared in the gold ring of light. A tall muscular man, with shaggy black hair that fell to midback and daggers sheathed at his hips. His gorgeous sky blue eyes opened as the light faded and he smiled at the group. As he went to take a step though he tripped over his own feet, stumbling and reaching out to grab something to steady himself. That something was Savana who went down in the process.

          "You klutz." The blonde woman sighed.

          Savana opened her eyes and came face to face with the most beautiful pair of ocean blue eyes that she had ever seen. The man blinked, instantly leaning back. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that, honest."

          The female blademaster blushed, but she nodded. "I'm fine. Who…are you?"

          He stood up, brushing pieces of his hair out of his face. "I'm a twinblade master, Kei." He smiled a sweet emotion on his handsome face. "But I'm kinda clumsy for a master."

          "Kinda?" the blonde snorted again.

          "Guys, this is Ramia, a long arm, and that's Kei. Kei and Ramia, this is Savana, HiRelena and Keita." Hiko explained. "Savana thought you two were the same. Guess that solves that."

          "Yeah I guess." The two men stared at one another. They looked nothing alike. Keita was taller, his body more toned and his armor heavier. His facial structure made him look younger and gave him the cute innocent expression. The long silver hair pulled into a ponytail went down to his waist and his brilliant green eyes seemed to mysterious for his childish look. Meanwhile Kei was more muscular and wore light clothing to compliment his body and class. If it wasn't for the whimsical vacant expression in his beautiful eyes he would possess all the regal qualities of you typical tall dark and handsome.

          "Wow, you're right." Savana nodded. 

          "Wow, I can't believe all you guys are so hot." Hirelena sighed. "Except you Savana, no offense."

          Hiko smiled at the cat girl and Keita ruffled her black hair.

          "So Hiko, why'd you call us anyway?" Ramia sighed finally dropping her guard a little bit.

          "No reason really. Just thought you all might want to do something." Hiko told her.

          "Well, we were going to go check this place out." Keita spoke up. "Lena and I heard about a protected area that opened up last night. If you want, we can all go."

          "That sounds like fun." Hirelena stopped drooling over the guys for three seconds to answer.

          "It sounds like somebody's been gate hacking then." Hiko muttered.

          "Gate hacking?" the woman swordsman blinked.

          "Hacking takes a little bit of skill but once you get it, it's relatively easy. CC corp on the other hand is really hard to crack though. I had difficulty just creating my characters. Gates have got to be close to impossible to break." HiRelena explained.

          "Why would creating a character be difficult?" Kei leaned down to look at her. "Hey you have the ears of a kitty." He smiled. "That makes you a-"

          "A?" Lena's ears twitched.

          "A-"

          "A what?" the wavemaster's tail moved.

          "You're a-" his eyes lit up. "Oh wow! You're a catgirl aren't you?"

          Savana and Hiko fell over while Keita sweatdropped and Lena laughed.

          "That was painfully obvious." Keita sighed.

          "She's a hacker you moron." Ramia exclaimed.

          The twinblade looked back at her. "Really? How can you tell?"

          "Are you sure there isn't a screw lose somewhere in his head?" Savana asked as Hiko helped her up.

          "You can answer that. Do you know Nenji Amiya from our school?"

          "I should have guessed. The klutziness wasn't just a roleplay thing." She smiled. Nenji actually looked a lot like Kei. He was on the wrestling team, the basketball team and soccer team as well as being Hiko's best friend. Where Nen was excellent he sports he lacked in smarts, but that didn't make him less popular in school. "And Ramia has got to be Raine, there's no other way."

          "You got it."

          Rain Kouhei was Nenji's girlfriend and a rather popular senior who's anti-social personality clashed with her pretty looks.

          "Okay enough of who we are." Ramia snorted. "Are we heading to this protected area or not?"

          "Wow. What is this?" Hirelena asked as they emerged into the area.

          "It's just like some of the places Balmung and I have visited." Savana's amber eyes widened. "BTW, has anyone checked the board lately?"

          "Yeah, what of it?" Hiko shrugged.

          "Did you see that article about the green-haired twin blade?"

          "Yeah. He had the power to change data!" Lena said excitedly.

          "Balmung's talked to him before. What if that twin blade… what if he was the one who unlocked this place somehow?"

          "You think he's here?" Keita raised a platinum eyebrow.

          "Well come on, let's check it out then." Kei unsheathed his deadly kodachii swords in one movement of his hands.

          "Yeah but it's level 35, and I'm a wavemaster. Can I handle this?" Lena whimpered.

          "Tell me about it." Savana agreed. 

          "Don't worry you got me." Keita put a hand on their shoulders.

          "And me." Hiko added.

          "Stop the sweet talk and move your asses." The scythewoman snapped.

          As the moved closer to the dungeon, Savana was surprised with the skill Kei possess with his blades. It seemed the clumsiness he usually showered disappeared and he became a top warrior.

          "Savana, you're drooling." Keita teased as she watched the twinblade finish off a Mu guardian by himself. The soldier turned as his opponent disintegrated, noticing Ramia limping over to him with a wound in her leg. He quickly ran over, sheathing his swords, healing her and pulling her into his arms.

          Savana sighed_. 'Balmung…'_

          "You miss him, don't you?"

          Looking up she saw those gentle emerald eyes staring at her through sterling bangs. He smiled. "Lord Balmung I mean."

          She nodded. "Yeah." She spoke softly she he had to step closer to hear. "I know he has other things to do, but I can't help but wonder where he is when he's not here with me."

          Keita didn't say anything for a moment. "When you talk like that Savana it makes me wonder how you feel about him." He sighed. "I haven't known you long at all, and I know I'm really one to talk, but I don't know if falling for this guy is a good idea. It's not Lord Balmung that's bad, but I think that post this morning was directed at you and if that's the case then you're being watched. I just want you to be careful, cause I think of you as a friend, okay?"

          "Keita you're such a sweetheart. Thanks for caring about me. I'll be careful I promise." She smiled at him.

          He blushed and then nodded. "Thank you."

          "Hey, you trying to steal my man?" Lena cried running up.

          "Nope, just talking." She put her hand sup in defense.

          "Guys, drop the talk and let's take the dungeon." Ramia growled. "It's right there."

          Splitting into three teams they decided to tackle the five level dungeons in a race and whoever found the Gott statue first got it's prize. Now it was Hiko's turn to prove his worth in Savana's party and the girl was impressed with his massive strength and speed, even when carry such a heavy sword. As they went down floor by floor, Savana kept an eye out for anything unusual, but taking their time meant coming in last.

          "Don't feel to bad, they beat us here." Keita told them as they entered.

          "I'm going out for Hero of Ziet anyway." Ramia smirked. "Balmung won't win this year!"

          "You have to get past Orca first!" Hiko teased.

          "I can do that no problem!"

          Listening to them argue, Savana dropped her head. They didn't even know that Orca was gone, lying in a hospital bed sometime. And she didn't want them to know. They were better off not getting dragged into all of this. The fact she was putting her life on the line to help the cause was enough. But somehow they would realize that the corrupted areas like this weren't just glitches in the system, and then she'd have some explaining to do.

          "Tawna?" Lena called to her.

          "Yeah?" she called, jerking her head up and out of her thoughts.

          "Keita and me are leaving. We're heading to the movies tonight, remember?" the catgirl grinned.

          "Okay. See ya!" she waved as they logged out.

          "Tawna!" Her heart skipped abeat. 

"My Mom's home! I have to go!" she panicked. "Talk to you all later!" she cried as she logged off. She shut down the computer and stashed it under the bed and prepared to head down the steps when she realized she was still in her pajamas. She abruptly turned and dashed into the bathroom, shutting the door as quietly as she could.

          She undressed and hopped into the shower. Her mother was downstairs unloading groceries. Taking her shower could be her excuse for not answering her mom when she called. And it gave her tome to think.

          "Spending time with the others was fun and I'm glad I met Kei and Ramia." She sighed into the steam. "But I want Balmung to come back. And I want to meet this green haired twin blader"

* A school name I've heard before I just threw it in.

** A made up word… don't even know if it exists. ^_^


	7. Friends or Foes?

Wow….that last chapter was put together horribly. I made some changes to it so that it wasn't so messed up. Let's see if I can do any better with these. For those who have been awaiting the last set of chapters, please forgive me, I'm terribly slow.

**Chapter Six: Friends or Foes?**

            I just wanted you near me…

            I just want you here with me…

            One Monday Tawna caught the bus an hour earlier to head to school. She had requested a meeting with the G-Study Advisor in hopes of explaining what had happened with the missing laptop. Heading up the hill, she was surprised to see how many students were crowding around out front of the building in a huge circle. Evidently something was going on.

            Usually she wouldn't have bothered, but since she was early anyway and her curiosity was getting the better of her, she quietly walked over to the group and tip toed to look over a small sophomore's shoulder.

            Two black-haired men were going through the paces of advanced martial arts by testing each other with spars. Many of the group watching was admiring girls while the few men in the crowd were shouting out moves and strategies to the two locked in combat. The junior noticed upon searching the small crowd that Raine was standing close to the inside, her arms crossed over her chest and a proud smile on her face.

            With a startling kick the taller of the men sent the smaller back and landed on his feet squarely. "Not bad Nenji. You're getting better." Adjusting locks of raven hair from his face, Tawna realized it was Hiko who had beaten Nenji as he reached for his glasses from Raine and slid them on. The group began swarming the two and the redhead found it best to leave now.

            Walking up the steps and into school, she paused to open her locker as she slipped off her shoes. Throwing the small door open, she grabbed her school shoes and put them on, shoving her older ones inside.

            "Tobuowanai-sempai you were awesome!"

            "You too Amiya-san!"

            The group had drifted inside and its leader had caught sight of the shy crimson-haired junior. "Ah, Tawna." His lavender eyes danced behind his thin glasses. "It's a surprise to see you here this early."

            She looked over, her eyes widening as she realized he was still standing with a large group of men. "I have business to attend to in G-Study. But it's nice to see you up so early as well. Your match with Amiya-sempai was impressive, Tobuowanai-kun."

            Sensing part of the problem he smiled, turning back to his friends. "Guys I'll see you later in class, alright?"

            One of his friends blinked. "Sure man. Whatever."

            As the three other guys walked off, Hiko turned back to the girl. "What's with the formality all of a sudden?"

            She blushed slightly. "We're in school. Yesterday I called you by your player name because I thought repeatedly calling you by your last name would be giving out private information over the net and I didn't want to offend you. But in school-"

            "Nothing's different." He cut in softly with a smile. "We're friends now. We play on the same team. I would rather prefer you call me by my first name." He raised an eyebrow. "Do you mind if I call you by yours?"

            "Not at all." She shook her head. "And…I will call you by your first name, but only when it is not needed for me to call you formally."

            "Good enough. I will speak to Raine and Nenji and see which they prefer you call them, since it is such a big deal to you." He grinned. "But for now, you can go about you business as wished. I hope to see you soon." He started to walk off and then immediately turned around. "Oh. You didn't get in trouble yesterday, did you? Lena explained to me the problem late last night, or a least part of it anyway."

            "No, I didn't get in trouble." She smiled back.

            "I'm glad. I was worried for a while." With that knowledge known he continued on his way. "I hope you find out what you need to, to help your friend Tomonari-chan."

            She nodded momentarily to his back before dashing off in the opposite direction. Now she had to gather her courage so that she could tell this interesting tale to the G-study president.

            "…so you see sir, I didn't mean to keep it from you. I just needed to test these theories out for myself." She swallowed, waiting for his answer.

            The senior had been pacing back and forth, adjusting his glasses. It had been the first time she had actually gotten a chance to meet the club's president and she could tell he wasn't happy. But by his panicked strides back and forth and the way he fidgeted, Tawna couldn't help but want to giggle. 'He looks like a complete computer nerd. The only other guy I know who wears glasses is Hiko, and he's way better looking than this guy.'

            "Saganachi-san." He spoke up, turning to look at her. "This is a most serious matter. The g-study team has already asked the school to purchase another laptop to replace the one that was stolen. The school had also filed a report to the police."

            "I'll return the computer as soon as I'm done with it! I actually didn't think I'd need it for as long as I've had it. I promise I haven't broken anything on it. I'm pretty good with computers. Himatari-sempai, I'm at your mercy for this. I never meant to harm anyone or anything. I just want to do what I can to help Tomonari!"

            He stared at her, pale cerulean eyes behind his glasses. "That's right, Tomonari was a good friend of yours. Mine too." Smiling he dropped his glance. "For now…" he hesitated. "We'll act as if you never told me this. I will ask the school board to drop the police report. As far as the old computer, I don't know what to do with it now."

            "I could probably pay for it." She spoke up. "I don't have much money, but I do have a savings account. You could bill me for it."

            "That would be up to our advisor and your parents." He responded immediately.

            "No!" she shook her head. "Don't tell my Mom about this. Her and my sister worry about me enough as is. They don't need to know I'm playing online. Please. I've been taking huge risks here, but I'm determined to get to the bottom of this."

            He sighed, turning away. "We'll figure something out then. Saganachi-san, you're dismissed."

            She nodded, getting up to walk out of the room, just in time to hear the bell. "Perfect timing." She muttered.

            Heading through the wing she made her way to her class. Sliding the door open she got a mere three-second glimpse of the room before she was tackled, sending her back up against the door. "Tawny! You're the best! I had so much fun yesterday! Thanks for getting me to play!"

            "Lena…" she sighed, blinking her golden eyes. "What's this all about?"

            "Here. Check it out." The girl hopped back and pulled out a small wallet-sized photo from her purse. Her small hands placed it in the girls own with a brilliant smile. "Isn't he cute?"

            "Wow." The picture was of a handsome youth in a blue and white soccer uniform. He had dark tan skin, quite a contrast to his jaw-length platinum hair. His deep emerald eyes were bright, reflecting the sunlight that graced itself on the soccer field. He had a nice smile, one that wanted to make you smile back in return. "I take it this is Keita?"

            She nodded. "Do I know how to pick guys or what? Hiko-kun knows him too. He's a player on a rival soccer team." She paused, digging through her bag and pulling out yet another small photo. "Here, this for you. It's a reminder of your role-playing friends." Her eyes softened a bit as she stared up into the other girl's face. "You know," she started, almost to quietly for her chipper attitude. "I can't believe how much time you're spending online. He really would be amazed."

            "Yeah…well, you have to face your fears, right?" she forced herself to smile back, before she went to stare at the tiny picture. It was taken from one of those souvenir photo booths set up at most movie theatres and parks. Her small best friend was leaning against the handsome silver-haired man, both smiling back into the camera's gaze. "Thanks Lena." She said, gesturing to the picture. "I'll put it in my room, to remind me of you guys when I can't play online."

            "Alright, ladies, get to your seats. I need to take attendance." Their homeroom teacher softly reprimanded them.

            "I'll see you online after school right?" Hirelena asked as they parted to their seats.

            "No." she shook her head. "I'm heading to the hospital after school. Tomorrow."

            Tuesday Tawna was introduced again to Nenji and Raine, and at Hiko's insistence, she dropped the formality in calling them by their last names. Lena told her that she wouldn't be able to get online tonight because she was going to a soccer game to watch Keita play, and Nenji and Hiko themselves had practice so she would be all alone in 'The World.' Or so she thought before she checked her e-mail messages.

            "Savana!" Hikaru called to her once she had entered Dun Lorieag. "You finally got my message."

            "Yeah, sorry about that. I had matters to attend to yesterday." She grinned sheepishly.

            "It's alright. You're just lucky that we're both online." She grinned. "Come on. When I got your reply, I forward it to Balmung. He's waiting."

            They were careful not to be followed up the mountain path, as servers were always the most crowded at night and any curious player who had seen them leave town would probably get lost or killed if they attempted to follow. Savana had a hard time as it was keeping up with the wavemaster's gliding stride.

            Opening a door the winged-mage led her through a massive front lobby up a pair of wooden steps to a wide room on the second floor where the descendant of Fianna himself was waiting.

            "Balmung-" she started half in awe at the palace she had been led through.

            "Where the hell have you been!" he demanded, walking up to her. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for two days now!"

            "Sorry I have an actual life!" she shot back, bewildered and annoyed by his sudden anger with her. "And it's nice to see you too! I was going to compliment you on this gorgeous building, but not if your going to act like an asshole!"

            He gritted his teeth and turned away for a minute. "I'm sorry. I just-" he sighed slightly. "I was worried about you."

            _'He was worried about me?'_  Crimson touched her dark cheeks. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'm not a newbie anymore, although I do enjoy your company."

            He looked over his shoulder at her a minute, before coming over to face her. "Alright then…" he smiled. "So you like the house do you?"

            "Like it? I love it! This must have taken forever for the coders to put together. Everything's so detailed." She grinned.

            His eyes lit up for a moment. "I'm glad you like it so much. I did all the coding for it."

            "You did?" her jaw dropped. "H-How?!"

            "I… just did. I gave the design to the admin board; they accepted it and I paid to have it made. That simple."

            "Big brother's pretty good with stuff like that. Like I said he was the one who gave me my wings, meaning with the admin's permission he gave them the code and they installed it into my character." Hikaru added.

            "Isn't it almost as the same as hacking?" the blademaster asked, blinking.

            "Somewhat." The wavemaster put in quickly before Balmung could get his two cents in about hackers. "But where they steal and alter things illegally, we make sure we have the permission of the administrators before we do anything."

            "I see…" she nodded. "So what are we up to today? Is there an event or something happening tonight?"

            "No." Balmung shook his head. "We're going to check out a corrupted area, and I thought it best if Hikaru came with us this time."

            "That's sounds interesting. So what are the keywords this time boss?" Savana grinned.

            He raised an ivory eyebrow at her in response but answered the question. "Beta, Chosen Hopeless Nothingness."

            "Well, I guess I'm getting used to this." The crimson-headed blademaster replied, staring at the glowing green night sky and word glitches showing gaps through the pictures.

            "I'm just glad nothing's surprised us yet." The knight added.

            "Just keep on guard." Hikaru twirled her staff.

            "Oh, come on guys. I don't feel like fighting." Savana grinned mischievously pulling out a wooden flute. Playing a few hollow notes, a whole opened up in the floor and second later a bulky, bright colored grunty appeared, his big brown eyes shining in the dim light.

            "You called Mistress?" he spoke. "Ribbit!"

            "Hey that's a great idea." Hikaru smiled. Within moments she had summoned up her brown and white noble grunty.

            Balmung blinked his emerald eyes. "Okay….." a second later there was an iron grunty awaiting instructions from its master. "I would have preferred to fight, but that will work." In one swift movement he vaulted up onto the animal's massive back.

            The dungeon couldn't have been missed. A huge looming tower built in its center, it could be seen from miles around before disappearing into the shadows of darkness. The trio left their gruties tied up outfront by the entrance and cautiously entered the building. It wasn't until long that they were thrown into battle after battle, as the magic portals had somewhat been put to block all possible entrances to the next floor. Picking up items was an added bonus and Savana and Hikaru even congratulated Balmung on leveling up, a rare occurrence for the master player. Entering level five proved to be different than any other floor. The fairy's orb could not register any data about the area and the last room led to a dead end.

            "Looks like its nothing." Hikaru sighed. "We better turn around."

            "Wait." The descendant of Fianna halted. "Someone's nearby. Come on!"

            Dashing off they turned the corner into another room just in time to see a green haired twin blader wearing red and yellow accompanied by a pink-headed heavy blader wearing purple and gold.

            "You two again." The male blademaster gritted his teeth. "Explain."

            "Explain my ass! We don't have to tell you anything!" the heavyblader retorted.

            "I already told him everything the other day." The twin blade told her calmly. Casting his steel blue gaze on Balmung he smiled. "We're just her to check things out, same as you."

            "I'll come back another time then. " the knight turned and abruptly gated out.

            "Balmung!" Hikaru cried. "Now is not the time to play your stupid little games!" she too, was gone in a flash.

            Savana swallowed. Here was her chance to talk to the twin blade she had heard about on the board. "Sorry about that.' She grinned sheepishly, not knowing what else to say. "I don't know what got into him. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Savana, a blademaster."

            "I'm Kite." The boy nodded, a smile warming his oddly good-looking face.

            "And I'm BlackRose, a heavy blade." The girl held up a hand.

            "So what are you guys doing down here anyways? This level's kinda creepy." The blademaster asked casually.

            "We were actually hoping we'd find someone. A girl dressed all in white." BlackRose replied.

            "Another player character? We haven't seen anyone in here besides us." She blinked.

            "Neither did we. We're not really sure if she's a player character either. In fact we're pretty sure that she's not. Her name is Aura." Kite spoke up.

            "Aura, huh? I can keep a look out for her if you want." Savana smiled.

            "No…it's not that simple. If you did find Aura it wouldn't do any good." The twin blade's gloved hands clenched. "Part of her data went missing-"

            "You mean she was data drained?" she cut in quickly.

            Both looked at her surprised. "How do you know about the data drain?" he asked.

            "A friend of mine was put in the hospital because his character was data drained. I've been looking for anything that might have been responsible for it." She explained.

            "Skeith used data drain." BlackRose spoke up. "But we defeated him. Kite can use it too, but there's no way-"

            "Kite can?!" her amber eyes flashed to the boy in shock.

            "Don't get it in you're head that it was Kite's fault." BlackRose went on sharply. "He's doing the same thing you are because a friend of his is in the hospital. I won't let you think for one second that he was the cause of what you're-"

            "BlackRose…that's enough." He spoke up softly, glancing over at her with a knowing smile, before that gaze changed to Savana. "I know what you're going through. I thought if we beat Skeith we could change things, but we haven't. It seems to be just the beginning. Orca still lays in a coma in the hospital, so my job here isn't finished yet. There's more to this mystery than just the data drain."

            "You said Orca…" the crimson-haired woman replied. "I take it you must mean Lord Orca. If he's you're friend then…at least where he is, he's among his friends. Kite…I promised Tomonari that I would find out what was going on. I want you to take my member address and let me know if you find out anything important, okay?"

            "Will do." He told her, his eyes lighting up. "Well BlackRose, I think we should be going."

            "I agree. The more I think about it, the more this place is rather creepy." The heavyblade shuddered.

            "Me too. Hikaru and Balmung are probably wondering where I've gotten off to. It was nice meeting you all though!" she waved, watching the two players log out.

            "Well, things have certainly taken a twist for the interesting."

            There was the echo of a woman's voice off the walls that made Savana jump. She unsheathed her blade, standing in attack stance. "Who's there? Come out, if you dare!"

            A blonde-headed wavemaster appeared out of the shadows. Her eyes were hidden behind a visor but somehow the blademaster knew her gaze was set on her. Criss-cross white straps covered her breasts and were fitted down her side to meet with her long white skirt. Purple triangles outfitted the sleeves and hem of her unusual white attire.

            "Who are you?" Savana asked, keeping her sword in the direction of the woman in case she was suddenly attacked.

            "A friend maybe….or maybe a foe…an ally or an enemy…that is your decision. Either way I am for guidance. Whether you listen or ignore my words is up to you." She giggled softly. "You really are something, you know that? I haven't seen Lord Balmung get that close to someone since he saved dear little Hikaru. He's beginning to change because of you."

            "Yeah?" She stood straight again, slipping her sword back around her waist, but continue to regard the stranger warily. "How?"

            The wavemaster smiled. "One would be your cat friend, Hirelena. She's a hacker correct?" at the surprised shine in the girl's eyes she continued. "It's a known fact that Balmung will not tolerate hackers on the net. He has been one of the strictest people that I have known about the situation. For a while I was surprised that he didn't join Keita's crusade. He's an arrogant man, but with all the power CC Corp lets him have it is quite understandable. So, why does he seemingly ignore that fact that Hirelena has altered her appearance? Don't you think you are the answer to that problem?" She turned her head, that red visor staring at the stone walls. "That twin blade boy has become something special too. He has power, although it is relatively new power. I am not at all unsure that between your stubbornness and that boy's strength you might be able to do something about the corruption plaguing this world. But-" she glanced back at the girl. "You must remember that this is another world away from our own. Balmung may be someone else outside of this place, but in here he is a knight, a warrior and plays accordingly to the rules he has set for himself. He might be ready to make the biggest sacrifice possible at any time if it means accomplishing his goal. Try not to forget that."

            "Balmung's my friend! I wouldn't let him do something like that!" She yelled out into the room, only to realize that seconds later the woman had left. How had she disappeared without giving notice to the blademaster. Sighing in defeat and over what she had just heard, she pulled sprite ocarina from her inventory and used it to exit the dungeon.

            "Hey there you are. I was wondering where you were." Hikaru smiled as she saw the blademaster walking up the path towards her. "Balmung left for the night. Complained he was getting tired, logged off and went to bed."

            "I was about ready to ask why you were playing with him again. I heard you guys got into a fight."

            "We did." She smiled. "Can you guess over who?"

            "Crim?"

            "Bingo."

            Savana groaned. "Geez… he's as overprotective of you as you are over him."

            "Yeah probably, a little bit." She sheepishly grinned. "Balmung and Crim don't get along very well though as is. It was all because of Subaru."

            "Subaru?" she blinked.

            "Someone from their past. One of Crim's old love interests." She shook her head. "Anyway, how are Kite and BlackRose doing?"

            "Fine, I guess. After they left though, it was weird… I ran into another wavemaster."

            "Was it Elk?"

            "Elk? Who?" the blademaster sighed. "I don't think so. It was a woman. …Hey Hikaru. You don't think Balmung would kill off his character if it meant saving this world, do you?"

            "There is no doubt in my mind that he would do it." She nodded with a smile. "He doesn't act like it, but he loves this place very much. I'm not saying I've ever asked him the question or anything. I just…know how he is. And I know that he had a chance to save the world only to merely hand over his character, he would do it in an instant. But I really don't want to think about sad thoughts right now, okay? Let's go do something fun."

            "Like?" she asked, standing up.

            "I don't know but we'll find something to do. Come on!" grabbing the girl's arm they took off down the path leading back into Dun Lorieag, the mountain city that lit up the sky at night.

-END CHAPTER SIX-


	8. Foul Play

**-**blink-blink- Wow… these chapters are getting done rather fast. I want to get up to chapter ten done quickly, because if I had to split my story up into two parts or 'seasons', chapter ten would be the end of season one. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me thus far and given input and their two cents in on my story. I'll try and finish the first half as quickly as humanly possible.

Chapter Seven: Foul Play 

            _And I'd give up everything only for you…_

_            It's the least I could do…_

            A week flew by as if nothing had happened. Everyday it was school then coming home soon after to play 'The world,' only breaking for dinner and for stops in the bathroom. Sunday was spent at the hospital and online. Tawna tried calling Mai, but was only told by her mother yet again that she didn't want to speak to anyone. Sighing in defeat she resolved herself to taking on a dungeon with Hiko. Balmung hadn't made any notion to contact her in three days, and while she was slightly worried and aggravated she let it pass.

            One the other hand, Hiko was spending more time online and everyone seemed to notice it. Nenji wasn't going to question his best friend, but Raine blatantly spelled out the fact that spending a lot of time on the net was not a good idea, especially when he was going after a girl who was obviously already taken.

            Hiko retaliated by blocking her for the night. He was furious at the accusation his friend had thrown at him. Hadn't he clearly told everyone that he was not becoming romantically involved while he was finishing high school? He had turned down offers from girls a lot prettier, smarter and more popular then the redheaded junior, so why did Raine suddenly get bitter about the subject of Tawna. She was just his friend correct?

            It did become more obvious, even to him, that he enjoyed the younger girl's company. She had the ability to make him laugh with her comments and make him worry at the slightest chance that she might be hurt in battle. She was a great ally when it came time to explore a dungeon and she never wanted payback, no matter how many items she wasted from her inventory on a single fight. She was also open with her conversation and always had something to talk about with him. In a game where you should be on guard every second, he felt himself wanting to relax when he was by her side.

            It was the following afternoon that something clicked inside of him. They had been exploring an area alone and had come out with the treasures from the Gott Statue.

            "What a raid!" she cried, dashing out into the sun-filled meadow. "We did an awesome job. Thanks so much Hiko!"

            "It was no problem." He blinked, shading his lavender eyes from the bright light as he emerged from the darkness of the dungeon. In the sun's glow, he watched her spin around, that long curtain of dark scarlet hair falling shaggily over her shoulders and around her face and back as she stopped. Those bright amber eyes shined back at him in admiration and she tilted her head playfully, her lips curling into a smile. "So are we going to try out another one?"

            He stared at her for a moment, not sure if he was staring at the same girl. Her simple armor showing off most of her lean body, that great smile, those beautiful eyes. This character was based off her own player…why hadn't he realized before how cute she was? He blinked his eyes, still not trusting his sight. It was as if someone had changed her look altogether, as if somehow…this wasn't the same girl in front of him.

            "Hiko…?" she stepped forward, looking at him questioningly. "Are you okay?"

            "Y-Yeah." He stuttered shaking his head slightly. "But unfortunately I can't stay online any longer."

            "Oh…" she pouted, which made her look even more adorable. God, what was wrong with him? She smiled after a moment. "Okay then. I'll see you in school tomorrow."

            "Right, school. Tomorrow." Quickly he gated out, logged off and threw the visor aside. Grabbing his glasses off the counter he scrambled across his room to a small frame sitting on the bedside table. Staring at it, he scanned the faces of his English class eleventh year. There she was, and it wasn't the game that was playing tricks on his eyes- she had the same unmistakably beautiful features to her face. He ran his fingers across the photo, making sure what was in front of this time was real. Staring at the picture for sometime, he recognized himself in the back row, standing right behind her. Why hadn't he seen it before?

            "Tawna!" Hiko called to her the next morning. He had purposely come to school later so that we would be able to meet up with her in the locker room.

            She turned and smiled at him, that same smile he had realized last night was so sweet. "Morning Tobuowanai-kun."

            His eyes widened slightly as he realized the change in his name. Usually she only called him '-kun' teasingly, because she was still stubbornly using formality as long as they were in school. But this morning he could hear the difference in her voice, and he knew it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. She had called him by it truly, meaning she really meant that they were close friends. He grinned. "Good morning to you too."

            "I wanted to thank you last night for taking me on all those dungeon trips. I felt bad, because usually the only one willing to drag me around for such a long period of time is Balmung."

            "Oh?" he blinked. He hadn't even remembered that she was hanging around with the winged Lord. _'Which I knew and have known since I met her. What's wrong with me?'_ This newfound mood his body switched into when he was near her was beginning to aggravate him.

            "Yeah. I've been kind of frustrated with him. It's been almost a week since I've heard anything from him. I mean the least he could do is write me a lousy e-mail. He's got me worried."

            _'She's…worried about him?'_ "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's just been busy." For a moment he felt a twinge of jealousy, knowing that at the minute her affections were placed elsewhere. The thought startled him and he ran his fingers shakily through his bangs to steady himself. "But you're right…he should have at least sent you an e-mail."

            "That's what I'm saying. Geez, he knows how to get on a girl's nerves." She blinked, staring up at him, watching his eyebrows furrow at her last sentence. He looked upset. "Hiko…?" she said softly. "Are you alright? You look like you were about to say something."

            "Huh?" he looked down on her and shook his head slightly. "I'm fine." Those eyes of his sparked as he remembered the entire reason he had come to school later.  "Oh, yeah. There's a game today against Ichidgo. It's for our semi-finals. Lena and Raine are going to be there. And Nen and I are playing. Why don't you come cheer us on?"

            She flashed him that weak half smile, which usually meant something else was going on. "Sorry Tobuowanai-kun, I can't. The only time I get online are 3-7, before my mom gets home, and I need all the time I can get."

            "Listen Tawna. You're spending too much time online. Why are you going to be waiting around for a guy who isn't even going to bother to let you know what's going on?" He replied quickly, colder then he had meant to. The sound of his voice becoming so stern when he talked to her startled him. He had seen her eyes widen slightly at his tone, and it to had surprised her. "Tawna, I-" he started again, but she just bowed in front of him, cutting off any of his words.

            "I'm sorry Tobuowanai-kun. If I don't hurry I'm going to be late for homeroom." She turned, heading off down the hallway.

            He didn't have the heart to go after her. He stood there and watched her disappear into the crowd of students mingling their way through the locker room and upstairs. He had never meant to sound so harsh, but the thing unsettling him the most was that he had actually meant what he had said.

            "Hiko? You still down here?" A pair of blue eyes rounded the corner and widened as they caught sight of their friend. "Hiko you look sick man. Come on, now's not the time to get ill on me. We need our captain for this afternoon's game. Come on," he put around the taller boy's shoulder. "We're going to be late for first period if we don't hurry."

            The boy took the help willingly. "Nenji…I just blew her off. I didn't mean to get mad at her. I don't know what's going on with me…"

            "Huh?" those cerulean eyes blinked twice. "You yelled at Tawny? Let me guess, she was going on about Balmung and you got upset."

            "How'd you know?" he looked up, shocked and then narrowed his eyes. "Were you eavesdropping?"

            "I don't know, was I?" he asked blankly. "I don't think I was. I know that the problem you have is pretty obvious though. You're just jealous, cuz you like her."

            "Of course I like her. She's my friend." He looked over at his friend who just shook his head. "Come on Nenji, I don't like her like that!" But his face had already gone bright red in response to his thoughts.

            The other senior laughed. "I think your face says otherwise bro."

            "Not funny." Hiko growled.

            "Look, bro. I'm not surprised that you like Tawna. It kind of hard not too. She's…what's the word…. she's sweet. She has to be one of the nicest girls I've ever met. I know you had this thing in your head that you didn't want to be with anyone until you graduated, but let's face it, you can't help it when you fall in love." He sighed. "I know I couldn't."

            "Nen, I'm not in love with her." He told him defensively.

            "No, but at the least you have a crush on her, and that's a start." He smiled. "Bro…Hiko. You worry too much man. You're always worried about school, or sports or something. You think to much. For once don't think about it, use your emotions and your instincts. It is what makes you human after all. And besides," he grinned. "When you worry, I worry and my brain can't handle all that thinking."

            "I think you're smarter then you think Nen. This entire conversation. You know a lot more about relationships than I do." He admitted willingly.

            "I'm just more open with people then you are. You're a nice guy man, you just don't let people see how nice you really are. And besides," he smiled. "When it comes to women, I've been around the block or so."

            "I'll have to keep you in mind for manly advice when I get my first girlfriend." He teased.

            "Or you could start asking me questions right now about Tawny." He shot back.

            "That's not funny."

            So all in all the two boys were late to class, but at least Hiko felt a little bit better. He tried to do as Nenji asked and not think too much on the subject but for a few random moments throughout the day he opened up his brain to the subject, and all he got back were questions. Questions he didn't even think he could answer himself. He would just have to accept the fact of what Nenji had told him- he had developed a crush on Tawna and was jealous because of her fascination with a guy she had met online. Christ, the entire thing sounded like a bad soap opera to him when he thought about it that way. It was still his way of denying the fact that he liked her, only because he wasn't still a hundred percent sure himself.

            The real matter at hand was going to be apologizing to her for being so rude this morning. Different ideas had popped into his mind all day…get out of class to go to her lunch to explain, take her out after the game was over….but each one sounded as if he was setting up some kind of date. So at the end of the day, he had still thought up nothing and he was still confused as ever.

            Stalking into the boy's gym locker room, he gave his locker dial a quick twist, put in the combination and threw open the door. A slight smile took his face as he stared at his uniform and cleats. Soccer would be the one thing to take his mind off today's events.

            "Hey, Tobuowanai-sempai!" One of his varsity members came walking up to him, already dressed in the red and black uniform. "Some girl asked me to give this to you. A redhead. I think she was a sophomore? Maybe a freshman, I don't know."

            Hiko took the letter from him calmly. "Thanks Daisumono." Opening the paper, his eyes scanned the small manuscript, skimming down the page quickly. _'Damnit…'_ He shut his locker with one hand. "Hey Daisumono, where'd you go?"

            "Yes?" the boy blinked, looking around the lockers, his red eyes focused on his captain.

            "I have to get going. If I'm not back before the Ichidgo team gets here, tell Amiya-san that he is to take over as captain."

            "Tobuowanai! This is our semi-final game. You can't ditch us now!" The boy cried, putting as much defiance into his words as he was pleading.

            "I'll be back. Just…ask our advisor to wait or something!" he yelled as he raced down the hall. He had exactly a half an hour to run home and back again…just getting there would take him twenty minutes. Running around the corner, he caught a glimpse of the sky over the city. Dark gray clouds were tumbling in, blocking out the sunshine. _'Come on storm, call the game on account of rain.'_ It was the first time he had ever wished a soccer match had been postponed. Turning another sharp corner the letter fell out of his coat pocket and skidded to the ground.

            _Hiko,_

_I'm sorry for whatever I did to upset you. I think it had something to do with us online, because you've been acting this way since last night. For whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry. I want us to be friends again. I'll be online this afternoon, but I really am sorry that I missed your match. I called Keita at lunch from Lena's cell phone and wished him good luck, and I said good luck to Nenji when I saw him in the hall at my break. But I haven't said it to you. So Hiko-kun I want you to have fun and good luck in your game today. Keita says you're going to need it._

            Tawna logged on, but sat there a moment staring at her computer. Why should she be here, when her friends were out having fun at a soccer game? 'I can't stop now. I'm doing this for Tomonari's sake, not my own.' Instead of logging in she brought up the compose command and stared at it for a long time. "I have to write that letter to Raquel. I can't keep putting it off. I told her I'd write her if I ever met Balmung again and it's been a good three weeks since then."

            Her letter was short and sweet, merely saying who she was and that she met up with Balmung and that they both would be happy if she were to come join a party with them sometime. As she sent the message out, she got a glimpse of her mailbox, which she hadn't checked all day. Her eyes widened as she stared at the one letter awaiting her attention. "About time I heard from you…"

            Savana entered Mac Anu, confused and yet curious. The e-mail had made little to no sense, only the destination had been clear. The blademaster easily found the small back alley where the winged swordsman had been waiting. Balmung's emerald eyes looked up slowly as he pushed off the brick wall, standing up straight. "Perfect timing." He said almost monotone. "Good afternoon."

            "Why haven't I heard from you? You've been gone a week. Ever since that incident with Kite, you've been quiet." She demanded.

            He turned, his gaze drifting down to the ground. "I want you to know," he started, his voice just as dull. "That I want nothing to do with that twin blade and his party."

            "Why? Because Kite is actually trying to do some good?" she replied, irritatingly. This was neither the conversation nor the idea she had had in mind when she had logged into the game.

            He snorted in disgust, glaring at her over his shoulder. "You don't even have a clue."

            "About what? That Kite is a decent guy who's trying to help his friend? That he -is- a friend of Orca's?"

            "That's-" he whipped around, looking at her half with shock, half with anger.

            "Don't worry I found out through Kite himself. You could of at least told me you knew. I meet the kid and you've already introduced yourself? I thought we were supposed to work together on this!"

            "We are supposed to be working together, but I'm not going to bother you with anything while you're running off with you're friends." He snapped back.

            "Since when do I have time with my friends? Every minute that I know you're online, I'm right there with you!" she shot back.

            His face went red, a reaction she certainly hadn't been waiting for. He muttered and turned his eyes elsewhere. "I do hear what goes on when I'm not around you know. Hikaru does tell me. Not that I've asked her to stalk you or anything, but now that she and I are on speaking terms again, I do let her know that I want to know what you've been up to. I'm not good with speaking to people. And I can't ask you simple questions because it's not really my business. But I do know you've been spending a lot of time with Hirelena and Hiko, and when she tells me about the stuff you all have been up to-" Those long ivory bangs slipped into his face, making it impossible to read. But his words were still the same. "I begin to miss you."

            Savana gasped, her own face blushing. She could say the exact same thing back to him. And she wanted to. But the only word coming from her mouth was his name, soft and comforting because she couldn't bring herself to say much else. "Balmung…"

            Hiko threw open the front door to his apartment, just as his cell phone started to ring. Snatching it from his pocket he dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Hello?"

            "Hiko? This is Nenji. Where the hell are you?"

            "I'm at my house." Turning the knob to his room the door burst open as he ran in and sat down by his computer.

            "Your house?! What's going on?" he asked frantically.

            "I'm acting on instincts and impulses man." He replied before he knew what he was saying. A crooked half grin lighted his face. "Tell the coaches something. I'll be there soon."

            "Wait! Don't-"

            "Sorry Nen." He started with a slight smile staring at the phone. "But I need to figure this part out by myself."

            Slipping on the visor he immediately logged himself in. Bringing up his address book, he sent her an instant message.

Tawna, if you're there, answer me!

            Savana looked up as the sound of an IM went off above them. After hesitating a minute, she decided to ignore it. Right now, something wasn't quite right with Balmung and if she could do something right today, she wanted to help him.

            "Balmung?"

            He swallowed. "As for Kite, the only thing I hold against is him is my bitter jealousy. The fact that he's out there everyday, doing more then I can to help Yasuhiko out…I'm the advanced player here, and for some reason I'm completely powerless!" His armored fist hit the nearby wall in frustration. "And he's so nice. He's so willing to let everyone help him, even though that bracelet has enough power to destroy an entire party in an instant. He's a lot stronger than I could ever be, as a player and as a person. That's why I can't stand him." His eyes slowly closed. "Do you have any idea how weak that makes me feel? That I've been playing since Fragment and a newbie has better luck against this thing than I do."

            "You've been trying your hardest! We both have!" she told him with a smile. "Come on, don't give up on me now! I need you! I need you to help me with this!" she stepped over to him and touched his shoulder. Blushing she swallowed, determined. "You can't hide from this. You said you would help me out. I've put to much trust in you to let you just walk away from me now."

            He looked down on her, pain and surprise mingled in his dark green eyes. He couldn't believe through all of this that she still willingly wanted to stay by his side. She had been a great help and a great friend. And even now when he had been avoiding her to get his feelings in place, he still couldn't help but to regard her as more then his friend. He swallowed. It was way to quiet between them.

            Hiko was growing more impatient with each passing second. She wasn't answering, but she was clearly online. Thinking that she might be more upset with him then he had first thought and wanting desperately to make amends by this point he entered Mac Anu. A group of players had gone idle in front of the chaos gate and he asked them if they had seen a red-haired blademaster pass by.

            "Yeah. Good-looking girl, right?" a long arm spoke up. "She passed here about fifteen, twenty minutes ago. Seemed to be heading over the bridge into the alleys."

            "Thanks for your help." He said, dashing off in that direction.

            Balmung's hand on her own startled her. He carefully pulled her away from his side, to stand right in front of him. Questioningly she stared at him, realizing he hadn't let go of her yet.

            "Why?" he asked softly. "You aren't like anyone else I've met here in this place. You don't care that I'm powerful, that I'm famous. That I'm a total asshole and that half the time I act like a jerk. To you, I'm just…Balmung. Why is that?"

            "Because you are." She responded, just as quiet. "To accept somebody, to care for that person…you have to be able to accept the good and the bad. Everyone has their bad moments, but I believe its only because they see the bad in themselves first. You're not a bad person Balmung. You're just not used to being around  people." She watched his eyes widen at that comment and knew she had hit the point. "I could tell. You have an edge around everyone because you're not used to being around everyone. It's something you have to get used on your own but you're getting there. I know you're bad points because I care but knowing that doesn't make you any different. You're still the same gallant knight that swooped down to save me when I needed help."

            His arms reached out, pulling her up against him. He closed his eyes, the crimson taking his cheeks as he held her. "Thank you." He whispered. She accepted him because she cared…that was something completely new to him. No one else, not in his life, had treated him this way. He had been so afraid that she would just leave, like all the other people who have come and gone in his lifetime. But she was here, and she cared for him, just as much as he did for her. "Thank you so much. You don't know what you've done for me…"

            She hugged him back, her arms having a hard time encircling him in that heavy armor. The feathers draping down his arms tickled against her back as he comfortably held her against him. "You don't have to thank me." She looked up at him. "I only do it because I want to. You mean a lot to me Balmung, whether you realize it or not. I'm happy to be by your side."

            He smiled. So this was the time to make confessions was it? This was definitely the last thing he had thought would happen today. "You mean a lot to me too. I've actually never been happier then when I'm with you and I guess that's why I miss you so much. I envy anyone else who gets your attention besides me."

            She grinned behind her blush. "Is that so?"

            "Yes it is." His eyes sparked playfully. "And it's not the only thing." Leaning down, he hesitated for a moment as if silently asking, before he dropped his lips on hers. For a moment Savana tensed from the shock. She hadn't been expecting that, but with his soft touch and warm kiss…her eyes fluttered close seconds before he pulled away. Extremely blushing, Balmung wore a proud smirk on his face as if he had accomplished something of great importance. "There. I claim you as mine."

            "You…!" she struck out to hit him, but he just gracefully sidestepped out of the way. Savana stumbled before she turned. "You had that planned all along, didn't you?!"

            "Actually I didn't, but it fit nicely along with the romantics don't you think?" He smiled, leaning over to her. "And I'll do it again." He said softly, teasingly as he quickly stole another kiss.

            She looked at him like she couldn't take this. "I can't believe you!"

            He laughed- actually laughed wholeheartedly. Pulling her into his arms again he smirked. "And if you like it, that's just the beginning."

            She growled, ruffling his long bangs. She still couldn't believe what was going on herself, but she couldn't say she wasn't pleased with it. For being worried about him for so long and actually caring, it was looking like it was paying off, especially as he was becoming more himself around her and he had announced his feelings for her, just like she had.

            He laughed out loud again, something she wasn't used to but it fit him well. "So what say you to my offer?"

            "I say you're crazy, but that arrogant attitude reminds me of the Balmung I know." She smiled.

            "Glad to know me acting like a jerk makes you happy." He grinned, stroking her hair. "I wish I could stay, but I have work to get done. Tomorrow I'll meet up with you in Cultural City Carmina Gadelica."

            "What's that?" she asked.

            "It's the real reason I called you out here. Tomorrow the admin are going to unlock Carmina Gadelica. After it suffered a huge crash a month or so ago, they've had it closed for repairs, but it will reopen tomorrow. Check your server list for Lambda server when you log on tomorrow. Until then," he ducked his head, dropping another quick kiss on her forehead. The golden glow surrounded him and he logged out.

            Tawna stood for a minute before heading back out to the exit of the alley. As she approached the corner, she saw a figure standing there, watching her. She stopped, her eyes wide at the heavy blade that stood in front of her. "…Hiko?"

            The man looked a lot like Hiko, but that cold look on his face led her to think for a moment she was staring at a different character. He shifted; the raven locks of hair moving away to show the purple crest on his forehead.

            "It is you Hiko!" she smiled. "I thought so. I'm sorry for anything I did wrong. I hope you got my let-" she stopped as he turned away. "Hiko?"

            Within a footstep or so he logged out. The blademaster stood there, watching him go. "Hiko…" she sighed. "I really am sorry."

            The black-haired senior tossed the visor aside. He had seen it all. The fight, their make up…. and for some reason it angered him. He was frustrated with feeling this way, and it was all for nothing now. Tawna had evidently made her decision, hadn't she? Even if he did feel for her…it meant nothing now.

            His cell rang; disturbing what little thinking his brain could process at the moment. Furious he picked it up and yelled into it. "Hello?!"

            "…Hiko?"

            He blinked. He hadn't even been thinking about the game that he was missing… "Nenji?" he said calmly.

            "Yeah hey. Sorry to interrupt you or anything…" he could hear the bitterness masked in the man's tenor voice. "The game was called to rain. We made one foul shot and all of a sudden the heaven's opened and began dumping buckets on the field. It's going to be rescheduled. Keita, Lena Raine and I are still heading to the arcade though. Wanna come?"

            "Sorry." He said emotionlessly. "I'm not feeling to well."

            "That's right… you didn't look to good this morning." The suspicion drained from his friend's voice. "Hope you feel better."

            He hung up and slunk over to his bed. He wasn't lying; it felt like something inside of him had shattered to pieces and was stabbing him on the inside. Among all the other emotions he had felt today…it was just about the all the poor guy could take. He didn't hear his cell phone ring later on, or maybe he did and chose to ignore. The letters scrawling across the screen read: The Saganachi Residence.

-- That was a heck of a lot of writing to do over one night. Thanks for that go out to Ranku because he wanted this chapter done so fast =p. I will start on Chapter eight as fast as I can (look for it out sometime over this next week). Oh and this chapter is dedicated to Hirelena, who has become a Hiko fan after following my story in writing through to the second season. I look forward to writing the next chapter!

Sora Tokumi Kazuma--


	9. Unexpected Rivalry

Another day, another chapter…. yeah, I'm on a roll now! This week is pretty weird, but at least I got time to type.  So without further ado, onto chapter eight!

Chapter Eight: Unexpected Rivalry 

            _Cause when there's you, I feel whole…_

            And there's no better feeling in the world… 

            It was apparent the next day that Hiko had gotten himself into trouble. The usual crowd that gathered around in the morning to talk with Nenji and him had not shown up and most of the senior class was ignoring him. His coach practically chewed him out and on top of all the misery at school he still wasn't feeling any better than the night before. He just didn't seem to care anymore.

            "Hiko, you sure, you're okay?" Nenji asked him his cerulean gaze glancing worriedly at his friends face.

            "No, not really." He replied softly. His long black hair had been pulled back in a braid by his mom right before he left the house, only because he hadn't decided to do anything with it that morning and it had been a mess. His violet eyes looked dull behind his glasses and he looked as if he was still half asleep.

            "Well? What happened man?" he leaned in closer to lower his voice. "Is it about Tawna?"

            Raine put a hand to his forehead. "Are you feeling well?" she removed her small fingers after a minute. "You don't have a fever but you don't look good."

            "Tobuowanai-kun!"

            His friends looked over to see Tawna and Hirelena coming toward them.

            "Ah. Morning Saganachi-chan, Yui-chan." Raine smiled.

            "You too Kouhei-sempai." Hirelena grinned.

            "Hey I didn't know you wear glasses." Nenji blinked his large blue eyes at the redheaded junior.

            "Only when I read. Its from reading to much when I was little." She smiled. "I have literature class first period." Turning she looked at the tallest of the three. "Tobuowanai-kun, why'd you get offline so quickly last night?"

            "I didn't feel like playing last night." He told her, trying to bring enough emotion into his voice to make the statement sound true.

            "Well I was wondering if you would all would join me in a party tomorrow." She smiled. "There's an event going on and I've never been able to clear one by myself."

            "Wow, sure!" Nenji's eyes were shining in response.

            "Sounds like fun." Raine nodded, thick locks of blonde flapping against he shoulders.

            "I'll…think about it." Hiko replied, colder then he had meant to.

            "Okay…" Tawna swallowed. "Hiko, I really am sorry for yesterday."

            He sighed. "Don't worry about it, I'm not angry anymore." Before he had known it a slight smile had come to his lips.

            She smiled back and nodded. "Thanks for not being mad at me then."

            "Oh!" Hirelena spoke up after a moment. "I had a talk with Keita-kun last night and he told me that yesterday's soccer game is rescheduled for Saturday morning. I figured we'd go."

            "That's right, you told me that earlier." Tawna nodded. "Tobuowanai-kun, do you mind if I go and cheer you on?"

            He blinked. "Yeah…that's okay with me."

            "Great!" she grinned. "It's a date then. We'll make plans on Friday, okay? I don't know how to get to their school."

            The bell sounded, startled their small group still gathered in the locker room. "We have to go." Hirelena's emerald widened.

            "Yeah, later guys!" Tawna called as they dashed off.

            "Looks like there's still hope left for you." Raine said after a moment, flashing a look at Hiko.

            "What's that supposed to mean?" he replied.

            "You look better now then you did walking in here." She narrowed her chestnut eyes in him in case he dare oppose her. "I think you're lovesick and Tawna's the obvious cure."

            "And I think you're crazy." He shot back. Didn't she realize that today of all days was one not to mess with him?

            "Well whether you admit it or deny it isn't the point. You better decide what you're going to do and quickly." She said, running fingers through long strands of gold.

            "Raine, what are you hinting at?" Nenji looked over at her, evidently lost.

            "I'm saying he should take this opportunity to spend time with her, before she's so lost in Balmung that she can't see anyone else. And from what I've heard from Yui-chan that's getting close." She just shook her head. "Now how bout we head to class ourselves. We have to pass this year, remember?"

            Hiko thought over what Raine had said that day and decided to join the five of them in their event party on Thursday. During which she told everyone about her newest friend Raquel who had sent her a long reply of thanks and a meet up time of 4:30 on Friday. Both Nenji and Keita immediately warned her of the dangers of inviting in new people, but Savana just shrugged them off and told them she had met her before and that she was a very nice player. The event ran smoothly, and Kei and Ramia eventually did win the prize for their time. After which the group broke off, leaving Savana alone with the onyx-haired heavy blader.

            "Thanks for inviting me." He told her as they headed for the chaos gate in Carmina Gadelica. Hiko had since returned to himself in the last twenty-four hours and the group was happy and relieved to have him back.

            "No problem." She smiled over at him, that same smile that had gotten to him at the start of the week. Had it only been that long ago? These days were lagging by.

            They made their stop in front of the portal. "Savana…" he started, and then shook his head. "No, Tawna."

            She blinked, looking up at his face in surprise at the use of her real name in this place. "Yeah?"

            He grinned, his hand resting on his shoulder. "I'm going to come pick you up Saturday morning. Let's go have breakfast together. I know a great place and its not far from Keita's school."

            Her eyes lit up. "That sounds great! Thanks Hiko!"

            He nodded. "Alright then, it's settled. Goodnight!"

            "Goodnight to you too!" she called as he gated out.

            Removing the visor, he looked at the computer screen for a long time, before picking up his glasses and sliding them on. Even if his feelings for her had changed, one thing that would never was how much fun they had playing 'The World.'

            Savana smiled. She was glad her friend was back to his self. For a while she had been really worried. The thing that still bothered her most was that he had been watching her the other day with Balmung…how much had he seen? Crimson touched her cheeks but she just shook her head. She could trust Hiko. It was one of the things she liked about him most.

            "Been having fun?"

            She turned, watching a familiar wavemaster appear through the gate with long navy hair.

            "Hikaru." She spoke sternly. "How much have you been telling Balmung about me?"

            She swallowed. "I…I only tell him what you tell me through your e-mails. He worries a lot about you, and he can't bring himself to say anything. So he asks me for him. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you before. You saw through me, didn't you?"

            "No, Balmung told me himself. Yesterday. We got into a fight." She explained in detail what had happened, only after they had retreated to the mountain palace in Dun Lorieag.

            "So he kissed you?!" the wavemaster grinned. "That's awesome. Aw! You to make such a cute couple."

            "Thanks…" the girl's face had gone completely red by this point. "I need to talk to him though. Is he online tonight?"

            "No, he already went to bed, from what I heard." She replied.

            "It's only seven!" Her eyes widened. "Oh… I have to get offline. Mom will be home any minute!"

            "Alright, see you later then!" the magician waved.

            Logging off, Tawna sighed. Today had gone better then most. She hadn't checked out a contaminated area in a while though and she hadn't heard anything from Kite. She was beginning to feel bad that she was getting nowhere with her search and that she was actually having fun on the game.

            "I'm having fun though…Tomonari would want it that way." She grinned, unhooking the laptop and hiding back in its spot under the bed. "Today was probably the best day I've had. I hope it continues to be like this."

            Maybe if she hadn't seen that, things wouldn't have taken as violent a turn for the worst as they did.

            "So, let's see if I get this straight…" Balmung said stopping to stare at her amidst his frantic pacing. "You're going out this weekend with some guy, so you won't be online to help me on tomorrow."

            "I'm going to a soccer game with my friends to cheer on my friends, and one of them happens to be Hiko, a heavy blade that you know." She rolled her eyes. "And I'm not going to be gone that long anyway. But I seriously have to do this. Hiko hasn't been in the best of moods recently and he needs some support. As for going out, yes, I'm leaving early tonight. I'm going to see a movie with Keita and Lena."

            "Fine." He huffed, turning away. "It's almost four thirty. We have to meet this friend of yours, don't we?"

            The female followed him to the gate in Carmina Gadelica, being careful not to stay in one place for to long. Savana already had the feeling that something was wrong. Balmung had been all over a few days ago, and now he wanted nothing to do with her. He had barely said hi since she had logged on today besides yelling at her and now he was suddenly jealous? Over who, Hiko?

            She giggled as they entered the sunny area, the place where they would meet Raquel.

            "What's so funny?" Balmung snapped, evidently annoyed.

            "Are you seriously jealous?" she asked him with a crooked grin on her face.

            "Of what?!" he shot back, suddenly enraged.

            This led into another fit of giggles from her. "It's just two funny. Big bad Balmung is all worried about a simple heavy blade stealing away his girl." At the death glare she received she kept laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just to hysterical."

            "I'm glad you find our relationship so funny." He muttered.

            "Oh come on Balmung, you know I'm only kidding." She said, calmly her fits of laughter.

            "Yeah, but you weren't when you said you were going off with some guy." He murmured, low enough that she couldn't hear. "Listen, Savana-"

            "Lord Balmung!"

            The couple turned to see a tall long arm woman running toward them. She had short, almost jaw-length golden blonde hair, pale skin and beautiful blue-green eyes. The small halter-top she wore showed off her rather busty chest and her toned stomach. Her bare shoulders were tattooed with cerulean markings the same color as her eyes. She wore a pair of long black pants, the same markings on her shoulders decorating the fabric from hip to ankle. Silver armor covered her from her feet to her knees and from her elbows to wrists. She looked all in all, as if she could be a model in this world, even when you could create your character to look totally different from you.

            "…. Impressive." Savana looked up, surprised at the reaction on Balmung's face.

            "Evening Lord Balmung." She smiled up at him adoringly. She changed her glances, her eyes growing colder for a moment. "Hello again, Savana."

            The female blademaster swallowed, rather intimidated by her glance. "Hi Raquel." Something wasn't right again…Raquel looked completely different from the last time she had seen her.

            "Who's your friend?" Balmung asked, looking past the blonde.

            It was then that Savana noticed another woman standing further off in the meadow a spear in hand. She was dressed plainly in a long scarlet tunic and pants, long red hair pulled back behind her long elven ears. Platinum highlights clashed with the crimson, giving off an intriguing effect. Her bright blue eyes stared at the groups before casually looking away.

            "She's pretty." Savana murmured.

            "She's an elf. A hacker to be precise. Her name's Alyanae." Raquel explained.

            "Alyanae." The female blademaster repeated. "I like her name too."

            "A hacker?" there was a cold tone in Balmung's voice as his emerald eyes narrowed.

            "Oh, Lord Balmung, please." Raquel pleaded. "Alyanae's not a bad character at all. She helped me re-design my character." She grinned devilishly. "It looks great, don't you think?"

            The winged descendant's cheeks went red in response, but he said nothing. Savana pretended to ignore that comment. Her instincts were still telling her something wasn't going right and that she should probably be leaving. Deciding it was probably better since it had been Balmung Raquel had wanted to see and not her, she took a step away from them. "You all will have to excuse me. I don't have a lot of time to spend online tonight. I'm going out later with a few friends and I need time to get ready."

            "That's understandable, since it is Friday and all." Raquel nodded. "Oh!" her eyes lit up. "Savana, before you go. I was leveling in an area the other day and I came across an area that was acting weird. I heard from Alyanae that you met up with that twin blade Kite, so you would probably know about it more than I would. Why don't you guys go check it out?"

            "A contaminated area?" she blinked. It had been a while since she had seen one.

            "I'll go with you." Balmung spoke up. "Despite how she looks, Savana isn't very strong. She'll need backup."

            "No need to worry. Alyanae will go with her. She's a powerful level eighty player." Raquel told him. At his wary glance, she smiled. "Please Lord Balmung. I've been waiting for so long to meet you. I figured we could have a talk or so. Savana can handle it. She's a big girl."

            He turned, making eye contact with the crimson-headed blademaster.  For a minute they just stared at one another before he solemnly nodded his head, messy white hair swaying in his eyes.

            She nodded back. "E-mail me later, alright?" She still didn't like the way things were turning out. He briefly nodded again in return.

            "Are you ready?" Alyanae surprised her by coming up behind her. "What's your member address?"

            Having been reassigned to Alyanae's party, Savana nodded. "Now I am."

            "Have fun you two!" Raquel waved as they gated out.

            "Huh?" Savana blinked as they entered a sun-filled meadow, scarcely shaded by shrubs and rock formations. "This place doesn't look contaminated."

            "You're right." Alyanae sounded rather surprised. "I've seen corrupted areas, and this isn't one."

            "Guess I'll go back and ask Raquel what the keywords were. Maybe we got them mixed up or something." The blademaster sighed. A golden circle surrounded her, but as the light flashed, she still remained in the exact same place. Her amber eyes widened. "Huh?" she tried again to no avail. "I can't gate out!"

            "Neither can I." The elf added after trying a few times herself.

            "Guess we have no choice but to reset." Savana gritted her teeth. "And I haven't saved all afternoon."

            "Calm down. If we can't leave then there is obviously something wrong here. Let's explore a little. Who knows once we reset if we can come back." The long-arm explained. "Just…stay on guard."

            "Okay…but lets clear all the outside monster portals." She grinned. "This place is level fifty and I need the experience."

            Monster battles seemed to resort to skill using and button bashing. Savana wasn't surprised to find that Alyanae could kill a high-powered monster like a Dalagion in a swipe or two of her spear. She truly was a powerful ally.

            "You know," the elf started as they finished an amazingly hard battle with four dark horses. She spun around and before Savana knew what was happening, she was staring at the other end of a sharp-pointed spear. "You seemed pretty nice. It's almost a shame your time's just about up."

            "Huh?" she swallowed, her golden eyes blinking wide. "What's going on? Alyanae?" Her hands began to tremble. "What'd I do?"

            The elf gritted her teeth in frustration. "Don't play dumb! You know damn well what I'm talking about! Why did you have to threaten people like that?"

            "I…what?" she found it hard to not shake, though she wanted to show that she wasn't afraid. "What'd I do?!"

            "That letter! On the board from the anonymous player a couple weeks ago? Threatening anyone who got near Lord Balmung! You can't keep him all to yourself! He's one of the most well respected characters on this game!" she barked, her spear tip inching closer to the girl's face. "It's alright. When Raquel told me it was you, we devised a plan to get rid of you."

            "Alyanae, listen to me." She said, as easily as she could without letting her voice tremble. "I would never do anything like that. Please you have to listen to me. I really am a friend of Balmung's. I wouldn't threaten him or anyone. Please."

            "And I should believe someone as dishonorable as you?" she shot back.

            Not really having any other choice, Savana opened an IM channel and sent it to probably the one other person beside Balmung who this woman would believe. She hoped and prayed she was on, seeing as her member list didn't work any other place but a root town.

            "You want me to tell you what's going to happen?" the elf replied coldly. "I should, else you're not going to know. I planted a virus on your character when we entered this area. It will shut down your character sooner or later, but the thing you should be worried about most is the virus scan software that automatically runs over the game's system every fifteen seconds. As soon as the virus starts working, it will mask the rest of your data and when the scan comes through, lets just say you'll be wiped clean from the game's server."

            "Alyanae…" she tried to step forward and found her legs paralyzed.

            "See, it looks like its already taking effect." She smirked.

            There was suddenly a golden circle of light appearing before them and a blue-haired wavemaster stepped through it. Her violet eyes widened. "Savana!"

            "Hikaru!" she called, reaching out an arm, to finding it now an impossible situation.

            "You sent for help?!" Alyanae frowned. "And I didn't see it coming?"

            "That's because it's a little bit harder to track me." The magician responded immediately. "Now what is all this?!"

            "Hikaru…" her words were getting dragged out as the virus took over her entirely. "Tell…her…out…Balmu…nd…I…call….Kite…" there was a blur, a bright flash of light and then everything went black. Taking off the visor the computer read the words SYSTEM ERROR in bright red flashing letters. Breathing in a deep sigh, she hit the reset button. "Damn it."

            As the computer started up again, she thought over what was going on. She couldn't believe what had happened. Raquel had accused her of being an online terrorist…Savana was now gone…She just should have left when she realized something was wrong.

            As Altimit started, her eyes caught sight of the flashing mail icon. Opening the inbox she realized she was now swamped with messages.

            -Savana, I told that elf woman everything but she would not say anything back in return, only that she had been misled. I'm going to file a report to the admin when this is all over. What did she do to you?! Savana's not even in the game anymore!

                                                                                                                        Hikaru-

            -Savana, this is Kite. I was reached by a mysterious woman in white (I have no idea who she is, but she seems to be an ally) and said that she would take care of the situation; about the same time I received Hikaru's e-mail. I hope things go well and that I hear from you soon.

                                                                                                                        Kite-

            The last letter was left unsigned, but the icon that appeared was of the same blonde-haired wavemaster that Tawna had met down in the dungeon a while ago.

            -You have really gotten yourself into it this time. I could of told you not to get so involved with Balumng, but I thought that would have been obvious by now. Luckily the data from the last time you logged can still be retrieved. You'll have missed about three days of work but if I work through tonight I should have Savana back online by tomorrow morning. -

            Tawna sat back in relief. "Thank God." She murmured with a smile flashing onto her face. It immediately left as an IM began flashing at the bottom of her screen. Her teeth gritted as she read the sender. She closed the IM, but moments later it reappeared on the screen. This time she decided to open it.

                        What? Don't want to talk?

                        -What do you want Raquel?!-

                        Did you enjoy this afternoon? I know I did.

            Tawna waited for a moment, but as soon as she went to type, another response flashed up.

                        Balmung and I had a long discussion, about you.

            She swallowed. If she was willing to spread such lies about her to her friends, she didn't even want to know what she had told Balmung. Another reply came up.

                        I would consider it over between you two. What ever little relationship you had is gone.

            The girl's amber eyes widened. That was the one thing…she had been fearing.

                                    -What did I do to you? If I wronged you in anyway, I'm sorry-

                                    LOL. Jealous, aren't we? Now maybe you know what I've been going through, hearing all this talk about Balmung dating a redheaded newbie blademaster. As soon as I heard the news I knew it was you. I just had to wait till you fulfilled your promise. You were so naïve that it caused your downfall. I've been trying to find Balmung for two years. Its sad that I had to find him through a small brat like you.

            Tawna leaned back against the wall. She didn't know what it was like to have a crush on someone so bad that you'd do anything to get to that person, but she was feeling bad that she had fallen for the winged swordsman when there had to be tons of others girls who at least partially felt the same way. There was yet another reply.

                        Well, no matter. He's mine now, and from what I know, you probably won't ever see him again. I've ruined your life enough for one day. Sleep on it.

            After that the connection fell silent. Tawna moved the laptop off her bed and shut it down before climbing back under the covers. She had absolutely no idea what to think, much less what to tell herself.

            Silence echoed throughout the house along with the lingering emotion of loneliness. The sunset and darkness fell upon the empty house. Tawna didn't move to turn on a light. She was tired and she didn't have the motivation to move. Seconds seemed to move like hours and eternity was currently being spent in that dark room alone.

            The phone rang sometime later on, startling the young girl out of her half-sleep daze. She leaned over, went through her purse and grabbed the small cell. "Hello?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

            "Where were you tonight?" her friend's chipper voice demanded.

            'Hirelena…' She vaguely remembered that Keita was going to be taking them to the movies and she was supposed have met them there at eight. Glancing over at her clock she stared at the red digits that flashed 10:35. Her mother hadn't even come home yet.

            "Lena," she swallowed, feeling more miserable then before, adding 'blowing her friends off' to the top of her mental guilt list. Her voice cracked as she tried to keep from crying. "I'm sorry."

            "Tawny, are you okay?" she asked, her tone changing at the sound of her friend's voice.

            "Can…can you come over here, now?" she sniffed.

            "Yeah, sure. I'll be there in a few." The connection was lost and time picked up again, this time faster then ever before. The lights of the three motorcycles could be seen pulling into the parking lot. Tawna realized they would have had to break the speed limit and take the alleys to get here that fast.

            There was the sound of the front door being thrown open.

            "Tawna where are you?!" the small yelled.

            "In my room!" she replied hoarsely.

            Footsteps came stamping up the steps. The door to her room flew open, light blinding her from the hallway. The light switch got thrown on and she saw that everyone was now gathering in her small room.

            "Oh man." Hirelena muttered at the sight of her friend's red puffy eyes and bed head. She approached the bed slowly as if the girl on it would suddenly recoil in fear. "Girl, what's going on?"

            Tawna clutched a pillow to her, trying to hide her face. She knew that it wasn't just Lena and Raine, but Keita, Nenji and at the back of the group, Hiko too. She was sure he, of all people, did not want to see her like this, especially with the week he was having.

            "I…I screwed everything up." She mumbled softly. "I…I d-don't know how but I lost everything." It was becoming hard to talk between sobs.

            "How so?" her small friend asked, sitting down gently on the bed. As if it was a cue, Rain started to walk over as well.

            "How?" she glanced up, her golden eyes suddenly violent. Raine froze in place. "I don't know! Balmung's mad at me; he doesn't want to see me anymore. He's apparently Raquel's now. Savana's been deleted. A couple hacker friends are trying to put her back together, but I don't know how that's going to work. Tomonari's still in the hospital, Hiko's been frustrated with me. What hasn't gone wrong in the last week?!" she buried her head in the pillow as she broke down.

            "Aw girl." Hirelena wrapped her arms around her. Raine smiled, putting an arm on her shaking back.

            Keita sat down next to Lena. "Things will get better, just give them time. If Lord Balmung is mad at you now, give him a few days. He'll get over it."

            "He cares about you a lot." Raine added soothingly.

            "I know Hiko's not upset with you either." Nenji chimed in.

            "Tawna…" the purple-eyed senior said, kneeling down on the floor in front of her. "I'm sorry you've been dealing with all this this week. I know I was acting like an ass. But it's okay. I'm here now to help you. We all are."

            She looked up at him slightly through watery amber eyes.

            "That's right! We all are here to help you out!" Lena smiled.

            "We're a group. A party. We've always stuck together right?" Hiko grinned at her. "Don't worry. Everything will work out with you and Balmung. We're all standing behind you. If he won't listen to you then he's going to have to listen to one of us in the end. He's one person and we're six. We'll set things right, promise."

            She nodded her head slightly before leaning forward, letting her forehead bang softly up against his. "Thank you." She whispered to him as her eyes closed tightly.

            He took off his glasses, putting them on the ground beside him and letting one hand run through the crimson mess of hair falling over her shoulders. "No problem." He said, soft enough that no one else could hear but her. "It's what I'm here for."

-END CHAPTER EIGHT-


	10. SIDESTORY: Homecoming

            All right, before you even get started, STOP! DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER WITHOUT READING THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE! -takes in a long deep breath- okay, no more yelling, promise. Because I couldn't leave you all on something utterly depressing as Tawna crying in her room over Balmung (that's no fun) I have posted this nifty little side story. Because it IS a side story you have no clue who most of the characters are, but you will find them out soon enough (they do make an appearance in the next chapter, nine). Now that you know on to the story!

Side Story: Homecoming 

Tatsu awoke as the morning light finally hit his face, a bright reality of what today was. He sat up, his chestnut brown eyes half-dazedly stared at the red digital numbers on his alarm clock and he thought about hitting the snooze button, giving him ten more minutes of relaxation. Immediately he thought against it, shoving himself up on his muscular forearms. Suddenly, what the date was actually occurred in his mind and he gasped slightly before nearly leaping out of bed. He ran out of the room, almost tripping amongst the things scattered all over his bedroom floor. His dark tan skin shuddered at the cold air in the house as he dashed down the hall, throwing the door to the bathroom open before slamming it again behind him.

            He threw off his tank top and boxers, starting the water in the shower. He caught the look at himself in the mirror, snorting disgustedly at his bed head. Feeling the steam rise from beneath the vinyl curtain he hopped into the hot water, sighing at its feel all over his skin.

            _'How could I be running late today, of all days?!'_ he snapped at himself shutting his eyes in shame. _'She's going to be so disappointed…'_ A flash of a beautiful childish face went through his mind, her gorgeous amethyst eyes shining back at him. "I don't have time for this…"

            Washing up as best he could, he ran out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. He dashed into the laundry room, where his clothes were hanging. He had just taken the time to wash them yesterday, and they were only a week old as is. "Bought specially for the occasion." He smiled as he ran back up the steps.

            Ten minutes later, he was running out of the house, his dress shoes slipping slightly as the soles were wet from standing on the bathroom tile floor. _'Now, one more stop before I get there…'_ he smirked, his thoughts drifting off one last time. _'Wait for me, Yue…'_

            _' …He had only been planning on skipping last period, but as he stalked down the hall, he couldn't help but hear the nearby conversation…'_

_            "What makes you think you're so much better then us, huh?"_

_            "You're a snot-nosed, preppy brat!"_

_            "What gave you the right to tease Uriko anyway?"_

_            Turning the corner he saw three seniors gathered around a corner by the exit in the back of the school. Two were huge, brawly-looking upperclassmen with deep-throated voices. One was leaning up against the wall, and the other was blocking his view entirely with his bulky body. A petite black-headed girl stood next to them, a hand on her hip and smirking at whatever the two boys had cornered. As one of the students moved, he caught a glimpse of a small girl, cowering in the crevice, her wide amethyst eyes staring at them behind her glasses, in some hopes of being left alone._

_            Tatsu clenched his fists, irritated by this. Not only was this wasting his time and he still could be caught. But picking on defenseless girls was not about to be ignored either. "Hey you punks!" he barked. "What the hell did she do to you?!"_

_            All three whipped around in surprise, before the two guys smirked. "It's just a freshman." One of them stated._

_            "You here to save the little girl?" the other added, sneering at him._

_            "Saving her is only half of it," he replied with a smirk of his own. "The real fun will be beating the shit out of you two."_

_            "What was that?!" One of them roared, while the other straight charged him._

_            Tatsu saw him coming and rushed forward, bringing his knee up into the other man's groin in mid stride. His elbow came down against the back of his neck and he heard a slight groan escape his mouth as he fainted against him._

_            "YOU!!" his friend rushed him now, enraged by his comrade's defeat. Tatsu wasted no time on grabbing his arm and bending it behind him, before shoving the boy's head into a nearby locker with enough force to dent the metal._

_            He sighed depressingly. "Well that was no fun…" glaring at the ebony-haired girl he spoke. "If you report any of this, you'll be next. Now, get to class."_

_            She nodded repeatedly before running off past him._

_            "Well, that was interesting." Walking forward he saw the young girl stand up, looking down at her skirt as she rubbed the bruises on one of her arms. "Why don't we- hey!"_

_            She had suddenly jumped him, hugging him. "Thank you." She said softly, her voice silent and sweet. "Thank you so much sir! I don't know what I would have done without you."_

_            He blushed. "H-Hey, it's cool. They didn't need to be picking on you. And don't call me 'sir'. My name's Tatsu." He shrugged away, his face still crimson. "Well I have to get going. If those guys keep picking on you, come find me sometime. I'll beat them up for you again.' With a smile he dashed past her out the door._

            Yue stared out the window, looking at interest at the clouds out the window. They were getting close and her anticipation was building. She couldn't wait to see her family again, couldn't wait to see him. The entire flight had been nothing but memories, bittersweet ones and she sighed remembering back.

            _"Hi again."_

_            She had looked up out of her book to see his handsome lean form standing there beside her, smirking down at her._

_            She swallowed. "H-Hello again..." she closed her book, sliding the bookmark in between the pages. "I'll move if you want me to…"_

_            "No!" he replied suddenly, causing her to blink. "I think you get the wrong idea. I'm not here to…" he sighed. "What's your name?" He asked after a minute._

_            "Yue." She said softly, not looking at him. "Yue Yukisagi-Su."_

_            "Yue…" he rolled it off his tongue, loving the sound of it. It was perfect for her. "Do you remember mine?"_

_            How could she not- he had been the one person to stick up for her among all the times the other kids had picked on her. "You're, Tatsu, right?" she pleaded she was getting it right._

_            He smiled, a true smile at her that made her blush slightly. "That's me. So Yue, what are you reading?" he asked._

_            "This?" she stared at what she was holding. "It's just a book on the American Civil War. Do you like books?" she hoped she wasn't making a fool out of herself._

_            "Not really." He chuckled. "School's not really my strong point."_

_            She blushed again, figuring she had screwed up their conversation. "W-What do you like?" she knew it sounded dumb, but she couldn't think of any other way to answer._

_            "Computers." He shrugged. "I work in a computer shop. Oh, and video games!" his eyes lit up. "I love games. RPGs and fighting games are the best. What about you? Do you play any?"_

_            "Does Solitaire count?" She asked timidly._

_            He thought for a moment. "Yeah I guess so. You're going to have to learn to play." He sat down next to her. "What are you doing after school?"_

_            "Usually I go to my friend Tawna's house…she lives next door." She explained softly._

_            "Do you think she would mind if you spent the afternoon with me?"_

_            The girl's face went crimson at the thought. "No? I don't think she'll mind."_

_            He smiled down on her. "Good because you're coming to spend the afternoon with me."_

                        …and then….

            _"I can't believe you're leaving me."_

_            She remembered the hurt and betrayal in his eyes as she looked at him, just before she left for China._

_            "I can't help it!"_

_            "Yes you can! Yue… I don't want you to go!"_

_            "Tatsu…" she smiled up at him. "I'll see you soon. The World, remember? I won't be that far away from you."_

_            He hugged her to him. "You'll still be in Hong Kong."_

_            "You'll get over it." She teased. "You have to promise me you'll do good in school while I'm gone. You need to graduate Tatsu."_

_            "I'll try. I don't know what I'm going to do without your study lessons, but I'll try." He stepped back as they called her gate number. "I'll miss you."_

_            "I'll miss you too."_

            She sighed. It had been two years… what did he look like now? Was he still the same freeloader and carefree boy she had known long ago? Was he single, a bookworm, and athlete? It had been two years, and they had never talked online of seeing each other offline until she was given permission to come back to Japan.  The realization that she might not even recognize him made her panic, but she forced that out of her mind. She would know him. She had to; he was the only person who she really cared for.

            As the plane hit the ground, her verves began to get to her and she had to remind herself to breathe. Stepping into the aisle and off the plane she swallowed.

            Tatsu swallowed as people started coming off the plane, hoping he would still recognize her. Two years could do a lot on a woman… was she still wearing glasses? Did she wear makeup? How about her clothing style? He checked over everyone frantically, double-checking to make sure she hadn't already passed. Suddenly his eyes fell on a form moving through the doors, and he was sure for a moment he had stopped breathing.

            She had the toned body of a woman, and rather tall for someone of Asian blood. Chin-length violet hair fell across her cheeks and her eyes were still the beautiful color of amethyst. She was dressed in khaki pants and a blue Chinese-style silk shirt that fit her body perfectly.

            He saw her looking around and he regained composure, hoping she hadn't caught him staring like some letch. Suddenly her eyes locked with his and he saw the look on her face as she did a double take. He smiled and nodded, silently assuring her.

            She ran toward him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and burying her head up against his muscular neck. "I can't believe this…" she whispered before looking up. "Tatsu, is it really you?"

            He nodded again. In his own eyes, he hadn't changed much but in hers, this muscular young man who was a result of daily weight training, kickboxing and Final Fantasy games was totally different from the scrawny boy she had once known. She hugged him again; just to make sure he was real. "I missed you…so much…"

            "I missed you too…" he spoke, his voice deeper then she could remember it. "Welcome home, Yue."

            He smiled into her dark purple hair. He had been waiting for this day since she left. Now his miserable period was over. With Yue's homecoming, maybe life could go back to the way it just to be- with her really by his side.


	11. Jealousy

Okay to stop Ej-kun's insistent teasing, I've decided to start chapter nine. This chapter is dedicated to my love, Eji Kazuma, for letting me borrow the great brown-headed warrior (Eji himself) for a story of mine, and for giving me another original character of his, Grem, to fill into the storyline as I pleased. Without too much mushy stuff, I will continue on to chapter nine.

Chapter Nine: Jealousy 

            _But with out you I'm alone…_

_            And I'd rather be in love with you…_

            Tawna awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. Trying to sit up to steady a dizzy spell, she almost knocked Hirelena off the bed who was curled up next to her. She had to watch where she moved her feet as well, since Raine was napping against the footboard.

            Finding a way to climb out, she carefully crawled from the maze of bodies to sit on the floor. It was cold and she shuddered but at least away from her friends she didn't feel like she was going to faint.

            There was a slight click and then a repeat of music she had  heard earlier, possibly in a dream. She blinked. Where was it coming from?

            The problem was the laptop, which Lena had left running last night to talk with Keita since the boys had left soon after they had arrived last night. Pulling it out from underneath the bed and preparing to shut it off, she realized that it was open on her account and that she had mail again from that blonde-headed wavemaster.

            "What the heck…" she murmured, half in defeat. It wouldn't kill her to at least try and log on, not at this point. Slipping the visor on she waited for the log-in screen to come up and hit the button.

            The screen went completely white again. Then there was a flash of green and suddenly she was standing before the white-clothed hacker.

            "Good morning." She smiled. "We've been waiting for you."

            "Savana-" a green image appeared and became the redheaded elf from the day before. Savana took a step back, despite herself. The woman swallowed. "Savana, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

            "Alyanae here has been helping me around the clock trying to restore your character." The wavemaster said calmly. "She was the one who suggested Savana's new make over, as a way to apologize for what she had done."

            "Make over?" the blademaster blinked.

            "You can't see it, but it changes just about everything about you. Here." In seconds another image appeared between the two, a copy of the player in front of them. The girl blinked her eyes surprised. "You did this?"

            Although the girl's skin tone, markings, hair and eyes color hadn't changed, there was a lot that had. She had pricked animal ears, similar to Hirelena's, a long bushy black tail tipped in white to match the new ears. Her tropical type clothing was sparkling with ruby jewels set on the side of her small wrap skirt and small red bracelets dangled around her wrists. There was a tattoo carved into the back of her character, a pair of small black demon wings. "This is…" she swallowed. "Incredible." Looking down at herself, she noticed the changes on her body, including the tail.

            "We experimented a lot." Alyanae explained uneasily. "I mostly went off hunches. I mean usually the only time you see someone with yellow eyes is because they are trying to have animalistic features about them, and I knew about the new upgrades CC Corp is trying to bring in in a few years with animal characters. I figured a fox would fit you well."

            "Actually, I have yellow eyes IRL." She told her after a moment. "I get them from my dad's side of the family."

            "Oh, I'm sorry!" the redheaded hacker recoiled as if she had been attacked. "I can change it if you want."

            "No, no!" she shook her head. "It's okay. I like it. It turned out really well."

            "I…" she started after a moment. "I gave you the demon wings because…you really are different from Balmung." Her cerulean eyes stared at her timidly for a minute. "He's cruel, and antisocial, and basically a jerk to everyone around him. So I was thinking about it. Why does he get to play the angel when you're the one who thinks about others first and puts your all into someone who honestly doesn't care. If he's going to be the angelic one, I think you should be the demon."

            She smiled. "Thank you Alyanae. Both of you really. You've done greater good then you ever did wrong."

            "The master mind behind the project has been punished as well." The wavemaster smirked, bringing up the subject of Raquel. "Her character was rewritten back to the way she was originally created and there is a time elapsed program set on her data that forbids her to equip any item over level 20. If she tries a stunt as bold as that again I will make the program a permanent one."

            "What makes things even better is that your wavemaster friend, Hikaru, reported her to the admin for Pking, so her character is suspended for three days anyway." Her smile dropped a little bit. "Apparently she tried explaining things to Balmung, but he won't listen to it. He's staying out of the current situation and he told her that he wants nothing to do with you right now. But don't worry about him Savana. Balmung's so vain, he can't see past himself anyway. I can't begin to imagine all the crap Raquel was feeding him."

            The blademaster swallowed. "Hey Alyanae, how did you meet Raquel anyway?"

            "From school. We both attend Tokyo U. I got her playing the game sadly, when I had just gotten introduced to her. She doesn't hang around me anymore, only when she needs something. All the stuff she was telling me about you…I really am sorry Savana."

            "It's alright. Don't worry about it any more. It's all behind us."

            The long-arm nodded. "Okay."

            There was a sigh from the blademaster. "Sorry you all, but I have to run. I blew off my friends last night because I was upset and I can't do it twice in two days."

            "Savana, before you go," the elf started. She looked upset for a minute and then her eyes got colder. "Take my member address. If you have any more problems, let me know."

            "Thanks. I'll give it to Hirelena too. She's another hacker friend of mine. Maybe you can teach her a thing or two." She grinned. "Thank you, so much."

            As the girl pulled off the visor she caught the phone start to ring. Pouncing it, she hit the talk button and put it to her ear. "Hello?" she said dully, half expecting it to be a teller marketer.

            "It's been a while since I've heard from you Tawna."

            The girl's amber eyes widened in response to that voice. "Yue…what are you doing calling me from Hong Kong?!"

            The voice on the other end giggled. "I'm not calling you from Hong Kong. I'm calling you from the airport in Ichidgo, approximately a forty five minute walk from your house."

            "But…when…?"

            "About twenty minutes ago. Tatsu came and picked me up from the airport. We're on our way out, but we wanted to know if you had any plans for today. I was hoping I could see you."

            "How long are you staying back in Japan?" Tawna found herself asking, dreading the response.

            "I'm back for good." There was a smile in her voice that made her friend sigh in relief. "So? What are you doing today?"

            "Actually we have a soccer game to attend at Ichidgo in about an hour or so." She told her.

            "Really?" the voice drifted away from the speaker, and a man's voice could be heard in the background. "Alright. Tatsu and I will meet you there!"

            "Great! Can't wait to see you again!" she cried as she hung up.

            "What was that all about?" Raine asked sleepily, blinking her dark brown eyes.

            "This is fantastic." Tawna grinned. "Lena! Hey Lena, get up!" she cried, shaking the bed. The small girl pawed the air in response. "Lena! NOW!"

            "Huh?" Hirelena sat up with a start. "What's goin on?"

            "Yue's back from Hong Kong. Come on, we have to get ready to go to the soccer game." She told her eagerly.

            ""Yeah…soccer…Keita…right…" she murmured. Suddenly her emerald eyes blinked. "Did you say Yue's back?"

            "Uh-huh." The redhead grinned.

            "Wait. What Yue are we talking about?" Raine asked, still half asleep herself. "Are you talking about Kanzaki's girl, the one who's been studying abroad forever?"

            "Uh-huh." She nodded again.

            "Kanzaki…" Lena blinked. "Wait a minute. Tatsumaru Kanzaki isn't dating anyone right now."

            "Yeah, but he has a huge crush on this girl who's like a year younger than him and super smart. Am I right?" she asked, looking at Tawna for reassurance.

            "I don't know about Kanzaki-sempai, but I do know that Yue graduated from high school when she was only a freshman, and she does like Tatsu a lot. Half of her family lives in China, so her mother sent her to study at a college over there and get an associates degree. She used to live right next door, but after she left her family moved further downtown and I haven't heard from them since." The redheaded junior told her.

            "I know what I'm talking about. Nenji is good friends with Kanzaki. We'll find out soon enough." Raine persisted stubbornly.

            "Do we really have time to argue about it?" Lena yawned. "We have to start getting ready to go."

            "Guys," Tawna said as she started towards the bathroom. "After the game let's get online. They restored Savana last night."

            With that remark, the junior was followed all the way to the bathroom with curious questions which all got answered on the ride down to Ichidgo. They weren't surprised when Hiko and Nenji met that at the bus stop near the high school and they walked the rest of the way there, Tawna telling them her good news. As far as Yue, that had gotten lost in the excitement of hearing that Savana was back on The World.

            "Tawna!"

            Those bright amber eyes looked up and caught sight of the tall lean woman with short dark purple hair and amethyst eyes. She grinned. "Yue! Hey!" Dashing forward she wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

            "Tawna, you are so beautiful now. Wow, have you grown since I saw you last." She said hugging her.

            "You too! You cut your hair! It used to be to your waist!"

            "Yue!" a short black-haired streak dashed toward them, lunging at the two girls.

            "Lena, is that really you?" the purple-haired woman asked, surprised. "I almost didn't recognize you."

            "How could you not recognize her Yue, her height hasn't changed since she was in elementary school." A familiar cocky male voice spoke up.

            "Tatsu-kun!" Hirelena spun around, wide green eyes staring venomously at him. "You jerk!"

            "Like I haven't heard that before from you." He smiled, ruffling her hair. "Morning Tiny."

            "You!" she hissed, backing out of his touch.

            "Tatsumaru, give it a rest." Hiko smiled at him, walking up to him. "So, did you get permission to miss class today or are you just skipping?"

            "Permission, of course. You should be at class, though, trying to bring up that grade point average." He grinned.

            "Why's that?" Tawna asked, confused. "I thought Hiko had a GPA of 3.8?"

            "He does." Raine nodded. "But Tatsu has the highest score of our senior class. He has 4.0 over a consecutive two years."

            "I can get into any college in the country." Tatsu added, looking at her with mischievous eyes. "I've got a full ride to Tokyo University."

            "That's awesome." Tawna swallowed. Her own average was somewhere in the low 3.0s and she knew that was tough to maintain. He must have devoted everything the last couple of years to his studies.

            "You're not the only one." Hiko reminded him, nodding at him with an amethyst gaze. "I too am going to Tokyo U in the fall on scholarship."

            "Really?" Hirelena beamed. "Wow! I'm surrounded by geniuses." Her wide gaze turned to the boy hiding slightly behind Tatsumaru and she grinned. "Shinta-kun! I didn't know you were here!"

            The boy blushed, but nodded, spiky black bangs falling in his dark eyes. "Morning everyone."

            "For those of you who don't know him-" Tatsu reached behind him, grabbing the kid in a headlock. "This is Imawano Shinta from the freshman classes. I've taken him under my wing as my gaming-master apprentice."

            "Nice to meet you Imawano-kun." Tawna nodded her head.

            "Please…" he blushed horribly. "Just call me Shinta. I don't like formalities."

            "Wow…" Yue stared at everyone. "The gang's all here. Thanks for welcoming me back guys."

            "Yeah," Tatsumaru let the boy go to arrogantly run his fingers through long dark locks of chocolate brown bangs. "What would you do without me?"

            "Play Final Fantasy VIII in peace?" she shot back innocently, a teasing smile on her lips.

            "Don't start with this bullshit again!" His dark brown eyes flashed hotly as he stared at her. "Final Fantasy VII was the greatest RPG SquareEnix ever made and you damn well know it! I won't tolerate you letting your brains get sucked out by that sappy crap storyline!"

            "Here they go again." Shinta sighed.

            "Final Fantasy…are they talking about the Final Fantasy XVI that just came out for the new Playstation console?" Tawna asked.

            "Somewhat. Final Fantasy is a long running series. Final Fantasy VII and VIII were supposed to be some of the best ever made." Hiko shrugged. "The originals were on a Super Nintendo, or something like that. My great uncle has one in his basement. I won't play past X because the graphics were horrible."

            "Yeah but the storylines were fantastic. I have to say I agree on VII. Cloud Strife ruled." Hirelena beamed.

            "Cloud Strife? He was in the movie that came out a couple of years ago." Tawna spoke up.

            "You're talking about Advent Children and it's about four years old." Hiko corrected her with a smile.

            "I saw it though. It was pretty good." The redhead nodded.

            "I think VIII was better." Raine commented.

            "My favorite was X." Shinta smiled. "I loved all the different characters. XII too. I wish I could have played XI before the game was wiped when the Internet crashed. Tawna, do you have a playstation?" when she shook her head he blinked, but continued. "I'll burn you PC copies then. You can play them on your computer and tell me which one you think is better."

            Meanwhile the fighting was still continuing.

            "Squall Leonhart was so much cooler!"

            "And Cloud's Ultima Weapon could bust the Lionheart into pieces!"

            "Well, Squall was far hotter then Cloud!"

            "Hey…" Hirelena whined at that comment.

            "And Tifa was hot among the final fantasy women too! What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

            Yue glared at him for a moment before she began to ramble off in Chinese furiously, her language switching to Korean. Then Spanish, French, German, Italian and Russian. When she began to speak in English it was clear she had been cursing at him the entire time while he just stared some amazed, horrified and pleased look on his face while his mouth dropped open slightly.

            "Ouch." Nenji winced.

            "Impressive, but not when it's twenty different ways to say I hate you." Lena giggled.

            "Lena!"

            She turned catching the flash of silver hair coming their way in a soccer uniform. "Keita-kun!" she cried, pouncing him.

            "Hi. I've been looking all over for you." He smiled, hugging her to him.

            "Lena," Yue had calmed down enough to look at the new addition to their group. "Who is this gorgeous guy?"

            The boy looked up and blushed at that comment. "Bunjihiro Keita, Lena's boyfriend. And you might be?"

            "Yukisagi-Su Yue. A childhood friend of Tawna's and Lena's." she nodded. "Nice to meet you."

            He nodded. "Tobuowanai, Amiya. You're team is assembling in our guest locker rooms. I've been asked to lead you there."

            "Looks like its show time." Hiko took off his glasses, handing them to the crimson-haired junior. "Can you hold on to these for me?"

            She smiled. "Sure. Good luck you guys!"

            "Looks like it's time to find seats." Tatsumaru replied with a smirk. "Come on ladies, follow me."

            They ended up getting killer seats thanks to Tatsumaru and his 'aggressive' attitude. Tawna found him amusing. He acted like a total punk, but around Yue, he was different…more reserved, even in his comments. She found it hard to believe that he had the highest grades out of all the seniors, but if Hiko would admit it, then it had to be true.

            "Kanzaki-kun," she started, looking up at him. "What kind of games do you play, beside Final Fantasy?"

            He looked down on her darkly for a minute. "Tawna, cut the formal crap, a'right? The name's Tatsu, and you can call me by it." Then he smiled. "Don't take it personally, it's just a pet peeve of mine."

            "Don't be so harsh to her Tatsu." Yue shot him a glare. "She doesn't know you very well, and if you make her cry, you're going to regret it." Shooting a friendly glance at her friend she continued. "Don't mind him Tawny. He acts all intimidating all the time, but all he really is is a big cuddly teddy bear."

            The boy stuck out his tongue disgustedly at that remark and Shinta burst out in laughter. Shaking his head, he glanced at her. "I've been playing Final Fantasy XVI, but usually The World takes up all my free time."

            "You play The World?!" Hirelena asked eagerly. "Raine, Tawna and I play too!"

            "Tawna, you play?" Yue stared at her amazed. "What's you're online name?"

            "Savana of course, after your story." She grinned.

            "Really? I RP Skye! That's awesome. I'm honored you'd play one of my characters." Yue told her.

            "I'm lost." Raine blinked.

            "Yue used to right this novel, and in it her main character was an archer named Skye, and her best friend a swordsmaster named Savana. When I needed a name for my character, I just thought of Savana, because Yue wrote her in for me." Tawna explained.

            "I actually got the archer class for Sky in The World." Yue grinned mischievously.

            "Great, here it goes." Tatsu snapped, his voice filled of bitterness.

            Yue looked up momentarily at him but continued. "Orca and Balmung helped me out. I contacted the Admin and asked if they would help me out with creating an archers class, because I thought it was a good idea. When they denied my request, Balmung and Orca e-mailed me. We petitioned for two new classes – the archer class and the polearm class. We never thought we'd get as big a response as we did. Over a million signatures. After that, I didn't hear from Balmung or Orca again, but my classes were approved and I was the first to test it out. It was incredible. I want to find them both and thank them for what they did for me."

            "Talk to Tawny! She knows Bal-"

            "Lena I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." Raine cut in softly. She jerked her head to the side where Tawna had drifted out of the conversation and sat resting her chin on her knees watching the game. Tatsu blinked at her a minute, but didn't say a word.

            "Ugh! It's no fair! How are you supposed to root for something like that!" Lena cried as the group left the school later on. "Why couldn't you both win?!" she hugged Keita. "I'm sorry that you lost."

            "It's okay." The silver-haired junior smiled. "We gave it our all, that's what counts."

            "I'm ready for lunch. We're going out for pizza right?" Nenji asked hopefully, wiping sweat from his brow.

            "I don't want to go." Tawna spoke up, the first thing she had said since the incident on the bleachers. "I'm not feeling to well, and my head's pounding."

            "Tawna…" Lena stared up at her friend.

            "I'll drive you home then." Hiko said, adjusting his glasses.

            "You don't have to do that." She told him softly.

            "You're not feeling well, and it's the least I can do, after the past week or so." He smiled down on her. "Come on, I parked my motorcycle over this way." Looking back at everyone, he grinned. "I'll catch up with you guys soon. Oh and Tatsu," that grin changed to a smirk. "Get up the courage to ask. It can't hurt anything, can it?"

            He smirked back. "You two man, and don't even try to deny it."

            Hiko's eyes widened but he just solemnly nodded his head, and led the dazed redhead away from the crowd.

            Yue swallowed, watching him leave. What had Hiko meant by that?

            "Tatsu can be an ass sometimes, but he's the only person I know who can read all my emotions like a book." Hiko explained as they pulled up in the apartment parking lot. "He gets it from all his sword and kick box training, or so he says." He looked up at the second floor, where the girl was living. "You said your mom's not home. Are you going to be okay?"

            She nodded as she hopped off the bike, shaggy layers flying over her shoulders and she stepped down. "Im-" Suddenly her eyes glazed over and she lost her footing falling against him.

            "Tawna!" he cried, catching her in his arms. Panic ran through him as his fingers brushed across her bare skin. She was cold to the touch.

            "I'm alright. I didn't get that much sleep last night and I haven't had anything to eat today." She said weakly, her head leaning against his chest. Even though she wasn't feeling well, her nose could smell the mix of his sweat and his faint cologne. Her fingers gripped his varsity jacket slightly as she rested against him. "Hiko…" she murmured closing her eyes tiredly. "No matter what you're always there for me. When I'm close to you like this…I feel safe."

            Those violet eyes widened at her words. She had to be delirious from a fever or her sickness to be talking about him like that, but still, he was happy that she had said that about him. "Come on," he told her softly. "We need to get you into the house. I'll fix you something to eat." Swinging her up into his arms, he undid the clip on her waist, placed the key in his hand and carried her into her house. Tawna only felt the difference of being on the ground, to the difference to being in her arms before everything went black and she slept in his embrace.

            "Tawna! Tawna, come on, wake your lazy ass up!"

            The girl jumped into a sitting position, amber eyes glancing exhaustedly around. She was on the couch in the living room by the looks of it, and there was a woman too…looking at her it took a minute for it to sink in. "Sumiko?! What are you doing here?!"

            "Hi little sis." The woman smiled, carelessly brushing slate blue hair from her eyes.

            "But I thought you were in college downtown. Why aren't you there?" she asked, entirely confused.

            "Mom called this morning and told me she was in a conference in the city all weekend and asked if I had a spare moment to check up on you. I had classes off this afternoon, so I figured I fulfill her request." Those golden eyes, so much like Tawna's suddenly got mischievous. "So, who was the hunk of a man playing kitchen wench for you when I got here?"

            Tawna blinked. "You must mean…" she glanced around, half expecting him to be in the room. "Hiko. Where is he?"

            "He left about twenty minutes ago. Got a call from a friend of his apparently and took off after fixing you lunch." She smiled. "Man girl, you really know how to pick boyfriends."

            She narrowed her eyes. "He's NOT my boyfriend."

            "Aw, you're still at that age where you want to deny it. Okay, cool, I see how that is." She ducked when her sister angrily swiped at her and a smirk crossed her face. "But if he's single you think you could hook him up with me?"

            Tawna fell over crashing back onto the couch. "Sis, he's eighteen and your twenty-five. Somehow I don't see that working."

            "Yes," she started standing up. "But the relationship would be legal." While her sister sweatdropped she grinned. "It doesn't matter I guess. He was real sweet about you anyway. Come on," she said offering her sister a hand up. "Like I said, he made us lunch."

            Fifteen minutes later the two were sitting at the counter in the kitchen pulled up to it on long-legged bar stools.

            "Damn this kid can cook!" Sumiko closed her eyes as she took the last bite of her food. "I'm sad to see it go. Next time I see that boy, I'm asking him to marry me."

            Tawna wouldn't announce it, but she had to agree. The food had probably been the best she had had in a long time. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually eaten a cooked meal. Usually it was all stuff that could be cooked in the microwave or on the stove under ten minutes. After a minute she sat down her chopsticks, blushing slightly. "Hey Sis. About what you said earlier. Do you really think Hiko likes me?"

            "No doubt." Sumiko said getting up to rinse her plate. "He was really worried about you. Before he left he just sat there and watched you for a few minutes. He asked me to call him if you got any worse and needed to go to the hospital or something. It was cute." Turning she blinked. "Where are you going?"

            "To my room. I'm still not feeling well." Was her response.

            "Well call Yue, alright? She's called here about ten times since I got here." She said, following her out to the living room and sitting down on the couch.

            "I'll just IM her when I get online." She said heading for the steps.

            The older woman's eyes widened with shock. "And since when did we get a computer with internet?!" There was definitely a tinge of fear in her voice.

            "Since…it's a long story. I'll explain later. Just don't say a word to Mom about it when I tell you." She smiled slightly at her sister. "I've played over a hundred and fifty hours online. Dad would be proud of me, don't you think?"

            Her sister swallowed but watched her sister go up the steps and disappear into her room. "She's got guts, I can say that much. Dad would be proud. I think…both Dad and Reivin would be proud."

            Savana entered Carmina Gadelica, surveying the beautiful city with wide amber eyes. Then she sighed, running her fingers through her shaggy crimson hair. In all honesty she was nervous about being on and more than a little afraid. Her new look was getting her stares from people passing by and she swallowed. Maybe standing out so much more wasn't a good idea.

            "Savana!"

            She turned, her fox ears twitching at the obvious call of her name, and realized there was no one there. Seconds later, a blue-haired wavemaster came flying through a portal created by the chaos gate. "Savana…" staring at her she blinked. "Wow…" she grinned. "You look awesome! Alyanae really did a nice job. But, now's not the time. You have to come with me, quickly."

            "Why what's going on?" she was dragged back into the chaos gate. The entered an area filled of wide rolling hills and beautiful meadows, but the clouds overhead threatened to pour rain at any minute.

            "Some one…" Hikaru panted, trying to hurry as best she could. "Someone hacked this location. Balmung and Raquel were here-"

"Raquel?!" Savana stared at her. "I thought she was suspended for three days?!"

"Yeah." Hikaru grumbled. "So did I." After a minute she continued. "They were here going through the dungeon when he was attacked by a heavy blade. A really really good heavy blade. Balmung ordered Raquel to leave, but he's still fighting the guy. I got your entire party there, thinking they would be able to stop the fight, but nothing's worked yet. I…" she looked back at her. "I think Balmung made the wrong decision yesterday. A seriously wrong decision. But even still he is my brother, and I don't want to see him PKed."

            Savana said nothing, but continued on. The wind picked up, whipping the knee-high grass around them and lightning flickered off in the distance. As they came up over another hill, they saw a group of people lying before them, all people Savana knew. 'Lena…Keita…Ramia…Kei…Alyanae…'

            Three people the blademaster didn't recognize were standing further off in the small valley. One of them was the man fighting the winged warrior. A little shorter then his opponent, with long dark brown strands of chocolate brown held back by a headband and deep emerald eyes, he was definitely not a problem to look at. He wore black and blue heavy armor, but was still rather less armed for a heavy blade. His vest flapped open as he moved, showing his tanned muscular chest. Looking at him, she realized that there was probably not another character in this game who looked as good being completely different. He was sure to stick out like a sore thumb upon entering a root town, so why hadn't she heard about him by now?

            The second character was a young boy dressed in long white baggy pants and a white flowing shirt, left unbuttoned to show off his toned chest. Silver flames snaked up the thin fabric on both the pants and the shirt, the paint shining in the flicker of the far off lightning. A childish gaze, bright cerulean eyes and a grimace fell over his face as he reached a hand up to move long navy bangs from his view. In the other hand he carried a long platinum staff, kanji engraved into every inch of the weapon.

            The last stood the furthest off. It was a woman with long violet hair, elegantly pulled back with black pins. Stray amethyst strands fell across her fair cheeks as her wide mix-matched eyes watched the match in awestruck horror. Staring back between the blue and brown gaze, she realized that someone would have had to alter her character for that. She was wearing all black and silver and a black quiver was slung over her shoulder. A silver tipped bow rested against the ground almost to support the girl as she watched this match.

            'A polearm master…a archer…and a heavy blade…' It suddenly clicked in the girl's head who she must standing in front of. Yue was an archer based off her character from a story…long purple hair in goth clothes…Shinta liked unusual characters and the polearm definitely fit that description and there was a rough-looking brown headed man with a grudge against Balmung…didn't anyone in her party realize who these people were?! They just spent the afternoon with them, surely it wasn't that hard to see through!

            "Oh no…" Hikaru let out a gasp, her fingers covering her lips.

            There was the sound of scrapping metal and Savana's golden gaze widened as she laid it on something she thought she would never see.

            Balmung's sword had been sent flying from his hands, spiraling into the air, the blade impaling into the earth several feet away. The blademaster had stumbled back onto one knee, just able to move away from his enemy's destructive swing. He stared up at his opponent, deep green eyes full of hate. Crimson specked the long ivory locks that had fallen into his face from the battle and a tiny trickle of blood fell from the corner of his mouth. "Damn you…"

            The heavy blade smirked. "Lord Balmung's first PK. Never thought it possible did you?" he hefted the large blade to one side, resting it among the grass. "I think you deserve it."

            "Tatsu…" Savana stared at him, shaking her head slightly. "Tatsu…no…" her feet began moving before she realized what was happening. That weapon of his…if it hit Balmung…things would be all over… "Tatsu, no!" She saw him raise the blade again, saw Balmung duck his head. Was he really going to just give in to defeat? Her pace quickened, dashing straight into the self-proclaimed battlefield.

            "Savana!" Hikaru shrieked after her, not able to take a step closer. "Savana!"

            Hiko had been running in from the opposite direction and caught what was going on, just as it happened. He stopped short, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop it. His eyes widened and then he looked away.

            Savana stepped in the way, just as the heavy blade turned, bringing his sword down on her. Her character sliced easily, taking the cut through the left shoulder, ripping her side apart. Her body started flashing red as she sank down on her knees, no longer able to control the immediate actions of her character. "Tatsu…" she looked up at him, gritting her teeth. She saw those big emerald eyes widen even further and she smiled. "Don't hurt him…please…"

            "You idiot!" The white-haired knight cried, pulling her into his arms. "I had a plan! Why would you do something that completely stupid!"

            "Savana, no!" Hirelena cried, watching in semi-horror.

            "Savana?" the purple-haired woman turned, looking at the group. "That's-" suddenly her knees gave out and she collapsed on the ground, a hand over her face.

            "Lady Skye?" the polearm asked worriedly.

            "Grem, go help her, quickly." The archer murmured, tears forming in her eyes.

            "Right Lady," turning he stared at their group. "If there is an experienced hacker around, could we borrow your assistance?"

            "I can help." Alyanae stepped forward.

            "Me too." Lena added.

            While they started towards the two, the heavy blade had backed off, almost at a loss with himself. He stalked back to the purple-haired archer. "Is that," he demanded furiously. "Is that who I think it is?!"

            "That's Savana." She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. He eyed Hiko leading the others to where Balmung has the wounded girl on the ground, but said nothing. "Eji, you have to stop this."

            "Stop this?" he growled at her. "Just let that guy go? Never! Now is the only chance I got!"

            She stood up, determination in her eyes. "You just attacked my best friend! Tawna stood in the way to take that blow, and I can tell you she would do it again in an instant. Stop this Tatsu. I've seen enough."

            "I said no." he hissed back at her. "Not unless it can change your feelings about him!" he turned then, stalking back in the direction of the group.

            "Ol Repth!" Hirelena cried, casting yet another healing spell on Savana. "It's no good." She sighed. "Nothing's working."

            "What did he do to her?" Balmung demanded, his eyes flashing to the polearm master.

            Grem swallowed. "Miss Alyanae if you would, access Savana's character data  please."

            "Sure, but it will take me a minute or so." The redheaded elf nodded.

            "Miss Hirelena, please don't stop using your healing magic. It is the only thing keeping Savana from dying. If she is killed there is no hope of saving her." The blue-haired boy smiled at her.

            "I got your back when you run out of MP." Keita told her reassuringly.

            "Lord Balmung…" the boy started again, watching the injured worriedly instead of the angry lord. "Eji's weapon boasts a number of status ailments. One of them is a poison-virus that affects the player, killing them off, and stays on the character permanently, so that every time they try to revive themselves the poison will continuously drain HP. I was taught how to create it, and you can always destroy that which was made from your own hand."

            "Bal…" the wounded blademaster murmured.

            "Savana, don't speak." Hiko said, staring down at her. "It will drain the energy of your character faster."

            She smiled slightly. "Bal…mung…please…forgive me…"

            "Balmung." A sharp voice cut in. Everyone turned, seeing the heavy blade standing there. "Come on, our battle is not finished."

            "Do you have any idea of the damage you've caused?" He shot back. "Someone like you should be banned from the game."

            Eji smirked. "We have one wounded, and thanks to my apprentice it won't be one casualty. You can at least honor her courage, get off your ass and fight me. As for the banning…yeah well the admin can't catch what they don't see, and somehow I get the feeling they wouldn't be to upset with my actions."

            "You can't be serious." He huffed. Handing Savana over to Hiko with a flash of his eyes he stood, moving from the others.

            "Alright. What am I-" Alyanae trailed off and suddenly she muttered. "Nevermind. What the hell do you want me to do now?"

            "I'm sending you the code to exterminate it. Give me a second." Grem spoke up, watching as the blademaster seemed to slip further and further away. "There, be quick about it please? If we lose her it's all over."

            There was no response from Alyanae and suddenly Savana stopped flashing critically despite Hirelena's healing spells. Bright amber eyes flickered open and her black fox ears twitched. "Where…where am I?"

            Hiko hugged her to him. "Thank goodness." He smiled.

            "You're telling me. If I lost all the data I did on her makeover, I would be pissed." Alyanae grinned.

            "You did an excellent job." Raine nodded.

            "Where's Balmung?" Savana said, despite her blush. "Where's Tatsu?"

            "Right there." Keita pointed out to where the two had been standing in a stalemate for the last few moments.

            "Balmung…" the blademaster swallowed. "Be careful!"

            As if her tone held some sort of bell, Eji dashed forward. Balmung vaulted backward, a shower of feathers following his wake as he used his wings for an extra burst of speed. Ducking to the side, he rolled across the ground, grabbing his sword and pulling it back into his hand. The main thing all heavy blades lacked was speed, especially with the heavy armor and weapons they carried. Turning around, he brought the blade up just in time to block another massive swing from his opponent's sword. His enemy was apparently quicker then he had thought. Shoving back he brought his sword back and then rushed the warrior, bring a heavily armored fist under his jaw. Eji slipped back, surprised by a hand to hand blow only to find a sword at his neck before he could counter. He swallowed as the tip hit up against his skin.

            "I believe I've won this." Balmung said sternly. "Now give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you and send a report straight to the administrators."

            "Stop this!" Skye came running between them, throwing herself defensively against the heavy blade's chest. "Don't do this Lord Balmung, please!"

            Surprised but unrelenting the winged swordsman kept his weapon held at his opponent.

            "Don't sweet talk him Yue, it's sickening." Eji told her coldly. Staring straight back at him, two pairs of dark green eyes glared hate at one another. "I would like to know why you are the way you are. You're completely heartless, and yet everyone idolizes you. I mean, you toss Tawna aside and then the same night you're all over some other girl, and I've had to listen to Yue ramble forever about you. I'm sick of it! I keep having to listen to the fact that all the problems my friends have on this game are because of you. I'm sorry you had to break Tawna's heart but you're not going to steal my girl's away. It isn't happening, and I'll fight you until you can kill me over it!"

            "Tatsu, shut up!" Yue snapped back, burying her head against his chest. "Just stop!"

            "I'm sorry to say, but I've never met your lady friend before and I can't possibly begin to imagine how jealous you're feeling, but I can see straight into it." Balmung told him emotionlessly.

            "Like it isn't obvious on your face! The entire reason you tossed Tawna aside was because you were getting pissed off about her close relationship with Hiko!" Eji continued bitterly.

            Surprising to most, Balmung glared at him. "You're not sure of a damn thing that's coming out of your mouth! How dare you accuse me of something like that?!"

            Savana looked back at Hiko, he gave her the same look and then swallowed, turning his attentions back out to the three in the field.

            "Don't play dumb and don't act as if you don't know Yue!" the heavy blade shot back.

            "He doesn't!" Yue cried, beating her head into his chest. "He doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't! I never -met- him! Just stop this! Both of you! Shut up! No more!" the girl was reduced to sobs against him. When Eji tried to lay a hand on her she jerked away, her mix-matched gaze falling on the man across from them and realized that he still had his blade held against them. "Balmung, you don't know me exactly but I know you. You helped me when nobody else would. I've been meaning to tell you thank you from all of us characters out there who now play as archer and polearm characters.

            "You're…" his eyes widened for a moment. "I thought the name Skye was familiar."

            "Hey, leave her alone Spa Monkey," Eji started, but even with the words his voice has softened. "Yue…" he swallowed.

            "Tatsu, you're an idiot!" she whipped around, glaring at him through tear-filled eyes. "You get so jealous over things that mean so little. You haven't realized that the only guy I've ever cared for is you!" she stared at him a moment before smiling slightly through her tears. "I came back to you didn't I? Two years ago I left, promising I would come back. And I did. I did because I wanted to see you. Because I missed you so badly. Our relationship might be questionable, but it's our relationship and there's nothing you can be jealous at from that."

            He sighed, casting a glance at Balmung. He was surprised to see the angel hiding behind long ivory bangs, hiding his face, but he lowered his weapon. Eji took a step forward pulling the small archer into his strong arms. "I'm sorry."

            Skye lost it then, her knees practically giving out on her as she broke into quiet sobs again. The heavy blade held her, resting his chin on top of her head for a moment as he let out a small sigh.

            "Eji," the descendant of Fianna said after a moment, still not revealing the looks on his face. "I would suggest losing the weapon."

            "We'll talk later. It's not like I can't find you." He replied, still holding the girl against him who was a crying wreck.

            "Fine, whatever." He huffed, turning his back on them and taking a few steps off into the field.

            "Balmung, wait!" Savana called out to him. "At least answer me one question before you go!"

            He glanced over at her warily. "I do owe you that much." He started. "What?"

            She ducked her head before looking at him determined, even though her eyes were brimming with tears. "Why? Why this all of a sudden. Things were going so well…I didn't think…."

            "You might wish to listen to Kazuma's words better next time." He told her coldly. "He's smarter then he looks."

            "Balmung!" Hiko shouted at him angrily, but the blademaster was already gone, logged out for the day. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Even –his- patience was growing thin by this point.

            "Tawna…" Skye murmured pulling away from Eji. Sniffling she walked over and dropped to her friend's knees by her side. She hugged her, her arms wrapping around her neck without warning. "I'm sorry. Sorry I dragged you here. I asked a friend of yours…I didn't know what was going between you and Balmung…I'm sorry…"

            "Yue…" even with tears falling from her eyes, she hugged her friend back. Yue had never been one to tolerate fighting and depressing stuff for to long. "It's okay. Everything will be okay, I promise…"

            The words coming from her didn't sound to reassuring. Laying her head next to Yue's she closed her eyes. She didn't even know if she could set things right by this point.

-CHAPTER NINE END-

CLOSING COMMENTS: Wow…a lotta crying in that chapter. I'm about ready to cry too, actually. -squeezes Squall Leonhart plushie to near-death- I CAN'T BELIEVE I DISSED FINAL FANTASY 8!!!! -runs around in circles frantically with the plushie- How could I do that to Squall?! He's practically a SquareEnix God! I feel sooooo bad now…. -sigh- anyways, I hope you all like chapter nine! I've been working on it for days. (It's also my longest typed chapter yet, woo-hoo!) I wasn't expecting it to be so romancy (the original written copy barely suggested that Tatsu and Yue were more then friends at this point) but that's what listening to Utada Hikaru will do to you, and with all the depressing stuff, I like it better this way. I promise to those of you still reading, that chapter ten is the end of all the sad stuff for a while. Then it turns into all fun and games, but I don't wanna ruin it for ya! Until I write again, Sora is out, probably going to play 10 hrs of FF8 to make up for the twenty minute Squall-insulting. Bye all!

--Sora Tokumi Kazuma--


	12. The End of Guilt

Chapter Ten: The End of Guilt 

            Tawna took the next week offline. Instead of coming home straight after school, she went to watch the boys soccer games or to the hospital or out to go shopping with Hirelena and Raine. The redhead was surprised to run into Tomonari's parents while she was out one afternoon. After an awkward conversation, her mother informed her that even though most of the doctors at the hospital had given up on him, his parents were not going to take him off life support because they still believed he would make it through this.

            "Have you heard from Mai lately?" The junior asked, wanting to know how her friend's girlfriend was handling this.

            "She's at the hospital everyday. She seems to have gotten better though. For a while she looked so miserable but now… she seems to be doing okay."

            Tawna nodded. Now that the freshman was feeling better maybe she would have to talk to have a talk with her.

            Sumiko surprised her by showing up Thursday night and informing her to bring all her friends over the next night to watch some of the newest blockbuster anime movies. Tawna spread the word and even persuaded Alyanae's offline player Tsukeike to take an afternoon off from her part-time job and join them at the apartment. The only ones she couldn't get a hold of was Kite and Hikaru, which oddly enough, hadn't been reachable all week.

With a group of teenagers and Sumiko and Mrs. Saganachi, they were a little pressed for space, especially in the small main room to the apartment that led into the kitchen to the left and the spare bedroom that sat directly in front of the TV a good ten feet back, right under the stairs to the top floor.

            After a little talk and much persuading by Yue and Lena, Tawna gave in to the seating arrangements. If they were all going to enjoy the movies, some small sacrifices would have to be made. Yue had taken a seat right by the end of the couch in Tatsu's lap, snuggling against his chest, while Keita sat right next to the brown-headed senior, Lena in his arms as well, her small hands clinging to his outer silk shirt as she shifted to see the TV. Nenji had spread his tall lean body out on the floor, his chin resting on his hands while Raine was lying next to him, half in his embrace as he turned, pulling her closer. Tsukeike was sitting next to them, leaning back against Hiko's legs. Shinta was next to her, laying his head tiredly but blushingly against the older woman's shoulder. Mrs. Saganachi and Sumiko were taking up two of the places on the couch while Hiko took up the third, Tawna resting embarrassingly in his arms.

            The redhead swallowed. She was never going to let her sister and her friends talk her into this again. Yet Hiko's body was warm, he was totally relaxed with the idea and she knew she would have been a lot less comfortable crammed on the floor with the others.

            "Are you okay?" she asked softly, amber eyes looking back at him when the movie started to pick up and everyone seemed to get into it.

            "Yeah." He responded just as quietly, amethyst looking down at her. "I'm fine. You don't weigh a thing." He told her with a smile.

            Her cheeks went crimson. "That's not what I meant. I mean…are you okay that I'm this close to you? I don't want to be a bother-"

            A finger on her lips silenced all her soft protests. "Tawna, you're never a bother."

            She nodded her head, her eyes flashing back to the TV, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was blushing horribly. A little while later, she swallowed, but moved slightly, laying her head against his chest and a hand against his shirt. His only response was wrapping a small arm around her. The movie had lost her interest. It was a funny, she thought almost bitterly, to think of all the things that had lost her interest this week. It seemed the only comfort she could take in was in her friends. She sighed, closing her eyes tiredly. Lying this close she could hear Hiko's strong heartbeat beating rhythmically in her ears. His soft pulse was a sound that slowly lulled her away from the chatter of her friends and the sound of the anime to a deep sleep.

            "Tawna! Tawna! You have to get up!"

            The redhead bolted up with a start, her head knocking straight into Hiko's jaw. "Ow!" she cried, moving back irritably for a moment before she realized who she had run into. "Oh, Hiko, I'm so sorry!" she called, letting her forehead go when she saw him holding his jaw."

            He grinned down at her. "You're fine. You're more then fine."

            "Tawny! Your Mom said it was okay that you keep the computer!" Lena busted out, her green eyes shining.

            "Lena! Hiko was going to tell her." Raine yelled at her, growling.

            "Oh. Sorry." She grinned sheepishly.

            "What are you all going on about?" the redhead blinked still sleepy.

            "Mom went upstairs, but we've been arguing and talking for a while." Sumiko spoke up. "And well, the fact that Mom had had a conference with your G-Study advisor and on the deal that's going on kinda came up…and all your friends argued your case and well, Mom's going to let you keep the computer."

            "……." The girl's amber eyes finally sparked. "No way…" she hugged the nearest person to her, which just happened to be Hiko. "You serious? You're not kidding?"

            "Would we kid you?" Yue asked with a bright smile.

            "Welcome to the computer-owning universe like the rest of us." Tatsu nodded.

            "Congrats." Keita added.

            "Wow…" she grinned, looking at all her friends after a moment, letting the thought sink in. "What time is it anyway? How long did I sleep?"

            ""Almost three hours. It's past eleven." Tsukeike told her, standing up. "And because its getting late I need to get out of here. I have work tomorrow morning early."

            "Ow…that's no fun." Hirelena pouted.

            "Yeah, but that's life. See you all online soon." She smiled at the group as she headed out, her long brown ponytail swishing against her back as she let herself out.

            "So what now? I'm here for the evening." Yue asked, glancing up at their hostess.

            "I think we should hook up the Playstation and get the gaming started." Shinta grinned. "I brought it with me, just for that purpose."

            "Fine, but don't think you're going to beat me kid. Yesterday was the last time I'll ever let you win." Tatsu retorted as the freshman began hooking up the machine.

            "He doesn't have to beat you if I kick your ass first." Keita shot him a teasing glance.

            "I think you should stick at soccer. It's about the only damn thing you're good at." The chocolate-headed senior told him coldly, but with an arrogant grin.

            "If Keita can't beat you, I think I could." Hiko smiled at him. "Or Nenji."

            "I think I can take you Tatsu-kun." Lena stuck out her tongue at him.

            "Not a chance in hell kid." He replied, hitting start as the game loaded. "Rules simple. You lose, you hand the controller over. I'll start since I will be the hardest to knock out of play."

            And so Tatsu played through Keita, Nenji, Hiko and Shinta as well as making Lena bust out in sniffs with her defeat.

            "You wanna try?" Hiko asked the girl sitting in his lap, offering her the controller.

            "Sure…how do I play?"

            "Button bash." Raine told her as the fight started.

            "Oh! There you go Tawna! Kick his butt!" Lena cried, jumping up and down. "You got him!"

            "Don't think so." Tatsu gritted his teeth, but held in the match just enough to throw Tawna's character off the ledge.

            "Here, I'll try." Sumiko grinned but took the controller. Tatsu was out of the ring in three seconds. "That's what you get for taking out my little sister."

            Tatsu's jaw fell open. "No way bitch! I declare a rematch!"

            "Tatsu, you got beat. Hand it over." Hiko told him calmly.

            Grumbling and muttering he gave the controller to Yue. "You're going down next time!" he hissed, glaring at her.

            The matches continued on into the late hours of the evening, Tawna passing out on Hiko when she got to tired to keep her eyes open. She was awakened the next morning by sunlight streaming in the window in the kitchen, falling directly into her face through the slits in the blinds. Blinking she looked down on the floor where Tatsu, Yue, Lena, Tatsu and Raine and Nenji were passed out on the floor. Shinta had fallen asleep on the Playstation controller, the screen replaying the default opening movie over and over. Sumiko had curled up next to them, her head lying against Hiko's leg to sleep while they had all passed out.

            "Nice to see there's someone up besides me."

            "Hiko!" she whispered happily looking up at him.

            "Good morning." He smiled tiredly. "Hope I didn't wake you."

            "No you didn't. How long have you been up?" she asked softly.

            "All night." He told her those exhausted purple eyes sparking with life slightly. "But it was worth it to see your pretty face first thing in the morning."

            "You could have left you know, when you got tired. Put me on the floor or something. I would have been fine." She told him, still staring at him. He wasn't wearing his glasses, and with his long black hair falling over his shoulders and in his face like that, he looked exactly like his online character.

            "I wanted to stay with you. I _like_ being close to you, you know. Makes me feel like I have someone to protect." He reached up, running a hand through the crimson locks framing her face. "Your hair's a mess. You need to comb through it." His finger's traced down across her cheek, running a thumb across her pale skin. He leaned forward, closer to her.

            Tawna swallowed. This was way to familiar. Her heart was picking up speed and she was feeling uneasy all over. A lock of raven hair brushed against her cheek as his face got inches away from hers. Those hazy violet eyes slowly closed as his lips softly brushed against hers.

            The girl's eyes shot open, immediately filling with tears as well as shock. So, it had been true. Her sister's teasing…she had been right. Hiko had liked her all this time. Somehow she had known too, and not wanted to realize it. She was afraid that she would hurt his feelings somehow if she acknowledged that she had known. But this…this wasn't what she wanted.

            She pushed him back, a hand on his chest keeping him away. His eyes opened and his face went crimson. "I'm sorry." He said glancing down and away from her. "I'm sorry, I just…didn't know any other way to get my point across." He ran a hand through his bangs. "I think I'm in love with you Tawna." He told her. "And…there's really nothing I can do about it, I know. But I wanted you to know. I had to tell you, if I wanted to feel any better."

            "Hiko…" she swallowed. "I can't honestly say I don't care about you. That would be a lie. But you know there's someone else who means a lot to me…and despite what's been going on, I can't deny that. I don't want to hurt you." She sniffed, tears running from her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you by telling you no, but there's no way I could have any close relationship with you when I already love someone else."

            She collapsed against his chest in sobs and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. Despite what she had said, he felt relieved. He was happy that her feelings for this guy were true and now that he knew there was no possible way he would have her, he could give up peacefully, let his heart mend and go on with his life instead of trying to think of how this could possibly work. Holding her like this, he realized with an uncanny smile, that this would be the last time he would ever get to be this close to her. But, to have her in his arms for one night, to be able to remember this…that would be enough. When she pulled away, he would have to let her go.

            "Tawna…" Lena sat up, blinking her eyes and then staring at the two. "Hiko, what happened?"

            "I'll tell you later." He whispered to her. Tawna had quieted by now, clinging to his shirt. "Tawna?"

            She sat back and looked up at him. He smiled back, placing a hand on her head. "I have to tell you I don't like the guy for what he's done to you, but if he sees half the things I see in you, he should come crawling back to you soon enough. And if he doesn't, I'll make him." He stood, picking her up and then resting her on the floor. "I have to get going. I have stuff to dot his afternoon and I really need to get home and sleep for a while." Grabbing his glasses from the small table by the couch he smiled. "Good luck, and I'll talk to you soon. Lena, tell the others I'll see them later. Bye you two."

            He turned to go but a small grip on his wrist made him stop for a moment. Turning back he stared down at the redheaded girl with surprise.

            "I want you to know Hiko." She told him, her amber eyes shining. "That I've always admired you for the way that I can fall back on you. You're always there for me when I need you. I hope…this doesn't mean…I won't have you there when I need your help?"

            He smiled. "You have nothing to worry about. There's nothing that would keep me from getting to you if you're in trouble, and that will never change."

            As he left, Tawna slumped down on the floor. "I can't believe…that went the way it did."

            "What happened?" Lena asked quietly moving around bodies to get to her friend.

            "Hiko told me he loved me…" she swallowed. "And I told him I love someone else. I set things straight with Hiko but now…I have to set things straight between Balmung and I."

            "And it's taken you a week to figure that out?"

            Turning they looked at Raine who was sitting there listening to the conversation.

            "I've been running from the problem." Tawna admitted glancing at the ground. "I figured if I didn't get online, I wouldn't have to deal with the fact that Balmung wasn't there with me anymore. And that didn't solve anything. I have to remember that I'm doing this for Tomonari who's in the hospital and not for myself. Regardless I need to be trying to solve this mystery and make amends with Balmung. Even if he still won't be by my side, I need to try and make things right. I need to stop feeling guilty, feeling bad for myself and do what needs to be done, because Hiko just did the same thing for me."

            "You've got the power to set this right, I know you do." It was Yue speaking up now. "You're one of the most loveable and sweet people that I know Tawny. We're all standing behind you, remember that."

            "You guys…" the girl sniffed. "Thanks."

            "No problem." Lena told her, hugging her.

            "It's not like anything's changed you know." Raine replied joining in the hug.

            ""We're still there for ya in the end." Yue smiled, hugging all three girls in their group hug.

            Once everyone had left, Tawna got up, took a shower and got online. Opening her inbox, her eyes widened at the message that had been left last night from Balmung. He asked that she meet him at the following keywords tomorrow at noon.

            "Tomorrow then," she responded softly, determination setting her voice.

            Later that evening at night school, she filled in her friends of the letter and asked Tatsu to spread the word to Yue and Alyanae of what was going to happen. Tomorrow they would all be there to back here in case anything serious happened.

            Savana arrived in the area just as the last of her party arrived. "We were wondering where you were." Yue told her with a smile. "We thought maybe you'd chicken out."

            "So did I."

            Turning they saw Balmung enter the area, Raquel following a few steps behind him, her teal-blue eyes flashing angrily.

            "Balmung…" The crimson-haired blademaster swallowed.

            "So we meet again." Raquel glared at her. "Thanks for what you did to my character. I really appreciate it."

            "That was my doing not Savana's and only because I think you deserved it." Alyanae shot back.

            "I don't think a hacker has place to open their mouth right now." Balmung snapped.

            "Get to the point birdie buddy." Eji spoke up, ignoring the blademaster's comment completely and even putting a hand on the handle of his sword for good measure. "You're wasted enough of my time already."

            The swordsman stared at him, but dare knew another fight with him would prove useless. "I only called Savana here, but since you all gathered, it's fine enough since you'll all be hearing soon enough. As you may or may not know, CC Corp's Magazine publication is hitting its 5th anniversary."

            "Really? Sweet!" Lena smiled.

            "The Admins and the executive board have been arguing back and forth about this issue and at the last moment I was pulled into it. They want Orca and I for the cover, which means way to much attention on the game. I've been asked to log off the game for the next week or so, and even when I do come back, I have to go into hiding for a while. If I need to contact any of you for any reason, I will send you an e-mail. Until then," he flashed a look at Savana. "Our mission is put on hold."

            Raquel snorted irritably as the two stared at one another for a few moments. "Alright, alright. You all have been notified, so you can leave now. Especially you. Get out of my sight newbie." She replied haughtily, waving Savana off.

            "Alright then." She smiled, nodding her head slightly. "Congratulations Balmung, that's a real honor. It was nice seeing you again." As much as she wanted to say, as determined as she had been, she lost it all when she was looking at him. There was no way she could tell him the way it was supposed to be, the way she wanted it to be.

            He nodded at her, those emerald eyes hiding the tiniest spark of the friendship they had once had. "Thanks. It was nice seeing you again too."

            She swallowed. This was how it was going to be. Nothing more then strangers. It was almost too much to bear when she looked at him. Before she knew it she had logged out of the area, headed into Mac Anu and found the familiar keywords that would take her back to where it all had started.

            "Savana!" Lena cried as she gated out. She too left, followed by Raine and Yue, trying to find their fleeing friend.

            "You…" Eji growled, his hot temper flaring up at the way Savana had ran from the situation.

            "Looks like it's time for us to leave." Raquel smiled up at the white-haired blademaster.

            "I think so too." He turned his back on the group, offering a hand to the blonde long-arm.

            "I'm-"

            "Enough Tatsu." Hiko put a hand in front of the other heavy blade. Looking over at him, he smiled. "This is my fight."

            "Hiko?" he blinked, surprised by his actions. Hiko, try and PK someone? That was new.

            "Balmung, I would suggest you don't turn you're back on me!" Hiko stepped forward, challenging him.

            The blademaster stopped. "And why would that be?" he replied.

            Gritting his teeth the onyx-haired swordmaster charged him, swinging his massive sword from his side out to hit the warrior. Those wings launched his opponent in the air, spinning him around to land a good ways away. "You know for someone I used to consider a friend and party member, you have persistently been getting on my nerves since I realized you joined Savana's side."

            "You're jealous of me, right?" he smirked. "You've been mad at me for closing the gap between Savana and me, and you've been taking it out on Savana." That smirk changed to a frown. "She doesn't deserve it!"

            "Yes she does!" Raquel cried infuriated. "She's been telling Alyanae to do things to my character, like give me this form and putting that armor break spell on me. She's a cruel person!"

            There was a flash of silver and then a blade pointed against her neck. "Lady, I used to PK people everyday. Slaughtering one more is not going to do a damn thing to my conscious or my feelings, especially when all you're spilling is lies."

            "Keita!" Balmung growled at him, watching the blademaster hold a sword to her.

            "Savana did not tell me to do those things." The elven hacker spoke up. "I did them on my own, after you persuaded me into following your horrible plan. You didn't tell Lord Balmung about how you talked me into thinking that Savana was harassing him, and how you and I came up with that plan to erase her from the game completely, did you?"

            Long ivory bangs jerked into the blademaster's view as he turned his head, his emerald eyes widening. "What?"

            "It's true. If you look at Savana now, the reason she looks so different is because she is completely different. I erased her from the game after listening to Raquel babble on about how completely terrible she was. And then I found out it was all just a plot so she could get you to herself. When I found out what had really happened, I reconstructed Savana and designed her with some of the newer features not even let out into the game because I felt bad for causing her so much trouble." Alyanae explained.

            "She…she told me that she knew Savana IRL." Balmung started after a moment, looking at her shocked. "That she knew Hiko and Savana were dating and that she…"

            "I wish I could of informed you of all this earlier. Told you so we wouldn't have had to go through all this now." Hiko told him with a slight smile. "It would have saved our little blademaster a lot of pain. I will tell you Balmung, I do love her, but I'm not going to get in her way, because she openly loves you." He gritted his teeth, suddenly angry and frustrated. "She's cried over you, because she thought you hated her. Do you know how hard that is to watch?! Do you know what it feels like?! To know that I love her and she loves you?!"

            "Hiko, man…" Eji swallowed, looking over at him. Alyanae cast the heavy blade a surprised glance as well. Grem bowed his head, his eyes closed tight, and Nenji just watched, not sure what to say.

            "If you can't tell me you don't feel the same toward her, that you don't care for her, then I know you're lying and you're no better then she is." He cast a quick glance to Raquel.

            Balmung had his head down, eyes hidden through long white bangs. "I…"

            "You win, alright?" Hiko started, softer this time. "She's yours, as long as you don't make her cry anymore."

            "I…" he swallowed. "I won't. You're right…she doesn't deserve it."

            "Lord-" Raquel started and felt the blade press harder against her skin.

            "You take one step and I'll kill you. That simple." Keita told her coldly.

            "Now, I think you better go find her and apologize." The heavy blade told him with a slight smile.

            "…" He raised his head, emotions shifting and changing in his eyes as he tried to steady himself again behind his cold persona. "I don't even know if I can set it right at this point." He said weakly. "She probably hates me."

            "Tawna? Hate anyone?" Hiko stared at him a minute and then shook his head. "Impossible. The only thing she wants right now is you. She's thinks you hate -her-. Go, and try and make things right, okay?"

            He nodded at him, before his gaze changed to the long-arm. "Do you any plans for her?" he asked.

            "I think between Keita and Eji, we'll figure something out." He told him.

            With another nod, the winged swordsman gated out.

            Hiko leaned up against his massive sword. "It's finally over." He sighed. Now all the pain in Tawna's life would disappear. He felt satisfied that he had done the right thing, but the pain in his own heart was still there. He sighed. Time would be the only thing that could fix that.

            "I'm impressed." Alyanae stepped up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

            "You did it!" Nenji ran up to him, grinning. "You okay with it?" he asked after a minute, his cerulean eyes shining worriedly.

            "I'm fine Nen." He smiled at him. "I'm more then fine. Things are going to work out fine for Tawna now, and as long as she's happy, I'll be happy."

            "So, uh, Hiko?" Eji spoke up, jade eyes casting a mischievous glance at him. "What do we do with her?"

            "Absolutely nothing! You people are so mean! You ruined my plans! I can't believe Lord Balmung would go running back to that newbie player! What a-"

            A strong hand came down across her face, silencing her.

            "You only wanted to be with Lord Balmung for his looks and his power. You know nothing of the relationship between Savana and him. It goes deeper then the fact that she's a newbie player, or the fact that he's one of the most popular. You can't win against someone who has more heart then you'll ever have. You're chances are over. I would suggest you stop acting so high and mighty and accept the game for what it is."

            "But I've been looking for Balmung for so long! With that accomplished, what am I supposed to do?!" she asked, tears forming in her eyes as she spat the question angrily.

            Keita let her go, resheathing his blade. "It's a game. Try and have fun with it. Yes, it can get serious, but only if you make it that way. Try and relax and enjoy yourself. That's why the creators made it."

            "Rachel, you've always been about what's popular and what's going to get you anywhere in life. Playing this game isn't going to get you anywhere." Alyanae told her with a slight smile. "But having fun and being satisfied that your character has become an accomplished warrior and player in this huge world. That's all you can do."

            "And personally, we have fun doing that." Grem cut in as well with a smile.

            "I would suggest getting over Balmung, since you were just using him anyway and finding out what this game is really about." Eji added.

            Raquel swallowed. "I…I might try." She smiled, acting haughty again. "If I get into it." With that she gated out.

            "You think the others found Savana?" Nenji asked after a moment.

            "Do you think Balmung has?" Hiko asked with a smile.

            Savana had retreated back to the corrupting temple, the area where she had first met Balmung. Sitting down on the steps, she hung her head and rested her arms on her knees. For a while she just sat there, but as the thoughts started to resolve in her head, she sighed.

            "I guess…I can get used to this, if I get the chance to see him every now and then." She murmured. "Just getting a chance to look at him, makes me forget whatever it is that I'm going to say. I don't want to sound stupid so I guess it's best that I just care for him from far away."

            "Talking to yourself again?"

            Her foxy ears twitched at the sound of that voice, before she looked up amber eyes wide. "Balmung?"

            "That was always one of your cutest features." He smiled at her. "I figured you'd be here. You're so predictable." He paused, his gaze looking up at the destroyed sky. "I'm sorry. When I heard Raquel say that she knew you, and that you were dating Hiko, I got upset and then when you had told me you were going to a soccer game with a friend of yours, I guessed it was true…I was so mad that he could get your attention so easily…I apologize."

            She got up, running to him, wrapping her arms around him, resting her head on the heavy metal breastplate covering his chest and broke down into sobs.

            "Hey…I told Hiko I wouldn't make you cry anymore." He said softly, wrapping his arms around her. "Do…" he swallowed. "Do you hate me, for putting me through all this?"

            "No!" she shook her head immediately. "How could I? I care about you so much…I couldn't hate you."

            He buried his head against her wild crimson hair, finally resting his chin on her head. "Can you forgive me then?"

            "I forgave you the moment you went wrong. You don't have to ask now." She looked up at him, smiling. "Can we go back to the way things were Balmung? Can I be by your side and in your arms, if you'll let me?"

            He nodded and she hugged him again. All the confusion…the chaos…it was all gone now. "I'll make it all up to you I promise, somehow…"

            There was a beep as flashmail went off above them.

            "I have to get offline now." He explained after a moment. "The Admin want me off. I'm breaking orders by staying online." He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead before distancing himself from her.

            "Balmung one last thing," she swallowed. "What about Raquel? What happened between you two?"

            "What happened between us?" he blinked. "Nothing. Mostly dungeon adventures and what not. She's not very good mind you. I don't see how a player who's played that long could be so inexperienced at leveling. I left her with Hiko and Tatsu to deal with, so hopefully she wasn't PKed. I figured they'd talk some sense into her, like they did with me. In any case," he grinned. "I'm glad to have my old partner back. I'll e-mail you when I get a chance."

            "Alright. See you in a week!" she waved back as he gated out. Sitting down on the steps again, she stretched out. Was it all really over now? "Hikaru's going to want to know about this…"

            Tawna saved her money for the entire week and ran into the nearest bookstore on Friday right after school. She had been downtown for a field trip and she figured while she was there she might as well check to see if they had any copies. The CC Magazine had hit newsstands on Tuesday and since every store near her house had sold out already.

            She spotted the thick glossy magazine on the bottom rack. "Man the last one too. Am I lucky or what?" As she reached to grab it, the copy was snatched up by someone from someone else who had ran to the stand from behind her. "Hey, what's the big idea?" she asked. Her fingers had barely been on it too…

            "Sorry honey, but I think I deserve it, since I personally know the guy and all."

            'That voice…' the junior turned, surprised. "Raquel?"

            The pretty blonde-headed woman took a step back. "Wha- how?" she swallowed. "Oh…no. Savana."

            "Yeah it's me." She smiled. "I was in the neighborhood. I didn't think I get to meet ya, but I did remember Tsukeike said you lived near her and she lives somewhere in the downtown area. What's up?"

            "I just got out of school and figured I' come find the magazine. Didn't realize I'd end up finding you." She sighed after a moment. "Here." She held out the book. "It's yours."

            "Nah, that's okay." She shook her head. "I don't need it really." She walked past her towards the front door.

            "I don't need you to pity me because you won!" she yelled after her.

            The girl turned, brushing locks of crimson out of her face. "I'm not. It's just…if I buy that book, it's going to end up torn up, cause all the pictures of Balmung are going to go on my wall. And, well, that book's to good for that. See ya."

            The college freshman watched the younger girl go, surprised. "Tsukeike might have been right about you after all Savana…"

            The junior got on the subway and took the ride to the station nearest her house. "Man. Oh well, the truth was told. Every picture of Balmung would have ended up on my wall, so I guess it's a good thing. Now I got more money to put in my Playstation account anyway. Shinta got me addicted to that stupid console."

            "Tawna!"

            Turning she glanced over just as a motorcycle stopped by the curb. "Hop on."

            Recognizing the bike and the long black hair flowing from underneath the helmet she, got on behind him, wrapping her arms around him. "Hey Hiko, evening!" she called just as he pulled away and sped down the highway towards her apartment.

            Pulling into the parking lot, he stopped the bike and let her get off while he undid his helmet. "Evening." he replied, putting the helmet under one arm. "This is for you."

            He handed her a small white bag that had been tied down in the compartment at the side of the bike. Curious she opened it and gasped at a copy of the CC Corp Magazine. "Where'd you find a copy of this?!" she asked him.

            "I bought it Tuesday morning, but I haven't seen you since. I kinda got the feeling you were avoiding me." He told her, adjusting his glasses.

            She blushed. "Kinda. I didn't know what to tell you after you helped me and Balmung get back together again. I felt kinda guilty."

            "No more guilt, alright. All that's past us now." He put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "And besides, I told you I'd be there for you when you needed me right?" Heading toward the building he smiled back at her. "Now come on. It's movie night and I ain't going to be late."

            She smiled down at the copy of the magazine and then at him, running to walk in the house with him. 'Hiko…thank you, so much…'

            _I cannot help it_

_            I couldn't stop it if I tried_

_            The same old heartbeat fills the emptiness I have inside_

_            And I've heard that you can't fight love_

_            So I won't complain_

_            Cause why would I stop the fire that keeps me going on?_

_            Cause when there's you, I feel whole_

_            And there's no better feeling in the world_

_            But without you I'm alone_

_            And I'd rather be in love_

_            Turn out the light now_

_            To see is to believe_

_            I just want you near me_

_            I just want you with me_

_            And I'd give up everything only for you_

_            It's the least I could do_

_            Cause when there's you, I feel whole_

            And there's no better feeling in The World 

_            But without you I'm alone_

_            And I'd rather be in love with you_

-CHAPTER TEN END-

CLOSING COMMENTS: It's done! It's done! It's done! -dances in circles- People, I give you all of my story in it's first season! I'm kinda sad to see it go though. I like the song and all; it was my inspiration for so long. The song, btw, is Michelle Branch "I'd Rather Be In Love" from her album Spirit Room Track #9. I kinda didn't want this chapter to be as mushy as it was, but one of the things I do when I'm writing is allow my fingers to do much of the talking and when I looked at this chapter and the actual rough copy I had written down there's a huge difference. Still, I'm happy with the way it turned out and rather proud of it, despite the fact that this chapter is probably one of the least descriptive I've written. I will start on chapter eleven ASAP, I had to take my break or this would have been finished sooner.

--Sora Tokumi Kazuma--


	13. Liminality

Chapter Eleven: Liminality 

            _Another day goes without any change…_

_            The feeling we live with still remains…_

"Lena!" Tawna called out to her friend as she ran into the locker room Monday morning. "Ohiyo!"

            "You've been in a good mood all weekend. You were glowing Saturday evening when we had class." The chipper little girl told her, smiling up at her.

            "Well that's cause of this." She pulled a folded paper out of her pocket and handed it to the girl while she opened her locker.

            "Aw! Balmung wrote this?" she asked and the girl blushingly nodded. "He sounds like he's really sorry about that incident with Raquel. Do you believe him?"

            "Of course I do. He just made a mistake that's all." She said swapping shoes.

            "Tawna, oh my gosh!" Yue suddenly tackled her out of nowhere. "I still can't believe it!"

            "Yue…what are you doing in school? You already graduated!" the redhead asked between being squeezed to death.

            "Tatsumaru came and picked me up this morning. I'm going to hang around here for a while and then walk downtown." She grinned. "I'm still shocked about what's going on with you guys. So you're really a thing, huh?"

            "Yeah." She blushed. "Kinda."

            "Yue, read this." Hirelena handed her the paper.

            "Sorry Tawna, I shouldn't have dragged her with me this morning." Tatsu rolled his chestnut eyes in annoyance to the giggling girls.

            "What's going on in here?" A familiar male voice called.

            "Raine! You need to come read this!" Yue called holding up the paper. "It's too cute!"

            "Reasons why girls get on my nerves." Tatsu huffed, walking up next to Hiko and Nenji.

            "So, Tawny," Lena looked up at him. "You should get his offline name and number. If he was my boyfriend, I'd be curious to know what he's like offline."

            "Do you realize that you're talking about Tawna, squirt?" Tatsu looked down on her. "She isn't going to do something like that."

            "Tatsu's right. Balmung…is just Balmung. I'm happy just to be with him online." Tawna nodded, looking back to her opened locker. "Oh." She grabbed the magazine from her locker, the one that Hiko had bought for her last week. "I'm taking this to class with me."

            "That's the one you got her right Hiko?" Nenji looked at him.

            "Yeah, I love it." She said, hugging it to her. "But I wanted to buy another copy so I could take the pictures out of it. This one's to good."

            "I bought another one Tawny, because I was going to scan some of the articles. I'll give it to you when I'm finished with it." Lena told her.

            "Really? Thanks. I want to put the pictures on my wall." She beamed at her friend.

            "Ugh, you mean I have to look at that pretty boy all over your room next time I spend the night?" Raine cringed.

            The bell sounded, signaling a warning to get to class.

            "We better get going or we're going to be late." Hiko told them.

            "He's right. I'll see you all online tonight then!" she called, as she and Lena went their separate ways from the seniors.

            "Hey Tawna." Lena look at her as they maneuvered around other students. "Where were you yesterday? Keita and I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the arcade with us."

            "I was at the hospital visiting Tomonari. Sorry, you should have called earlier." She took the steps three at a time, jumping in between crowds of people.

            "Yeah? What the doctors have to say?"

            "They want to drop him from the machines, but his parents won't let them. We have to figure this thing out and fast."

            Balmung sighed, running his fingers through his ivory bangs. He leaned against the railing; his forearms resting on the thin metal support and letting the drapes of feathers hang over the edge as he looked out on a hazy dusk. "What Hikaru?"

            His sister's purple eyes widened as she approached him from the top of the steps. "Nothing bro. I'm sorry you're not allowed to leave for another couple of days."

            "Only if I go run errands for the Admin am I allowed to leave." He told her his voice bitter. "It's just a way that they can keep me under control and not wandering around. They don't like the fact that I'm getting into that boy's business."

            She nodded and then a moment later sighed. "Did you e-mail Savana and tell her to meet you here?"

            He nodded slightly, dark emerald eyes reflecting the pale blue and yellow of the sunset over Dun Lorieag.

            She sighed again, stretching her wings and her arms. "You seem worried brother. What is it?"

            "She usually logs on around three. It's almost seven now. She told me last night she'd be online this afternoon." He spoke softly, his tenor voice deepening. "I asked Keita, Hiko and Ramia if they'd seen her and they all said no."

            "There's got to be a reason Balmung." She smiled. "She probably has school work to do or something. I know Crim doesn't play if he's working at home. It'll be okay."

            "I hope so." Was his answer and he turned from the railing, pushing off it. He drew his sword in one furious strike and began practicing, going over his physical techniques effortlessly.

            "Antsy, aren't we?" Hikaru teased him, giggling. "Is this what you do when you have a little bit of spare time?"

            "It's not like I can leave this place anyway." He huffed, manipulating the sword around him, his eyes closed in concentration.

            "H-Hi Guys!"

            His dark eyes snapped open and he almost dropped his weapon at the sight of the fox girl panting at the top of the steps.

            Hikaru beamed. "Hi Savana, it's been a while. I got your message. Congrats."

            Balmung sheathed his blade before abruptly stalking over, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply, passionately.

            Savana sighed softly as she pulled away. "Enjoying your first time in the game in over a week?" she asked, him tapping him on the nose. "Sorry I'm so late. Mom found out about me playing online a couple weeks ago and she told me I could be online as long as my grades didn't suffer. So, I'll be a little later online everyday because I have to get my homework finished first."

            "As long as I still get a chance to see you everyday." He replied, nuzzling his face against her neck.

            She blushed hotly but laid up against his armored chest. "I think I can do that."

            Hikaru smiled at the two and then blinked as a sound went off above her. Her violet eyes lit up and then she silently logged out.

            "Hikaru, I-" Savana pulled away after a moment, looking around and blinking her gold eyes. "Where'd she go?"

            "Crim just signed on. She'll be gone for the rest of the night." He told her. "So, what do you want do, since I can probably go about five feet into town before I get into trouble."

            She giggled. "There's an even going on right now. Everyone's there, so there wouldn't be anyone to notice you if you did leave anyway."

            He blinked but took her word for it. "Okay…so still what do you want to do?"

            "How about we just talk I don't feel like doing to much tonight anyway. I'm really tired." Leaning against the wall, she swallowed. "Lena was teasing me about something this morning. And it's kinda been bothering me all day, so I hope you don't mind me asking. Balmung…what's your name?"

            "My real name?" a platinum eyebrow rose in response. There was a moment of silence between them. "Why do you ask? What was she saying?"

            "They were talking about how I should learn more about you and maybe one day I would end up meeting you. I don't know if that's going to happen, but I will admit I want to know more about you. I think I should at least know you're name." She explained, fidgeting and stuttering over her words.

            He leaned back against the railing, resting his elbows on it as he stared at her, amused. "It's Rei."

            "Rei?" she blinked, looking up at him. She hadn't actually thought he would tell her. "That's cute." She told him with a smile.

            His pale cheeks blushed as he turned his head to the side. "You think?"

            She laughed, walking toward him. "Yep, of course. You know mine name though. Tawna Saganachi." She held out a hand to him.

            Looking at her, he raised another eyebrow. "Rei Nomura." His glove hand wrapped around her pawed hand.

            "It's weird as if we're meeting for the first time." She told him as they shook.

            "I don't think so." His other hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her close as their fingers intertwined.

            She smiled up at him, before staring back out on the quiet mountain town. "Its so peaceful around here sometimes, to the point where it looks like there isn't anything wrong."

            "I know." He responded softly.

            Her gaze shifted straight down and then lit up. "Oh! I just thought of something! Will you come with me?"

            He nodded sagely dropping her hand and letting her go as she led the way out of the castle.

            "Hey guys, it's been a while!" the red-haired woman called as she jumped into the grunty pen. Four little grunties ran over, consuming her in licks and kisses. Her own grunty, a little purple-furred animal with brown eyes nuzzled her arm.

            "Hey how you doing buddy?" she asked scratching his dark green mane. "What do you think Balmung? What will he grow up into?"

            "I honestly don't know. A poison or iron grunty if you're lucky. You have one already, don't you?" he told her leaning against the fence.

            "You too. How many grunties do you have?" he asked.

            "More than I can count." He smirked. "I am the best racer around."

            "That's cool. I'll have to give you a run for your money sometime." She grinned up at him and then realized that half vacant expression on his face. "Balmung?" she said softly. "What's wrong?"

            "Huh?" he blinked down at her. "It's nothing really."

            "Come on." She pleaded, walking back toward him and sitting up on the fence by his side. "You can tell me if there is something bothering you."

            He sighed after a moment, looking away. "It's one of the Admin actually. He's giving me problems and it's becoming a problem to me."

            "Why?" she tilted he head to the side. "Are you in trouble?"

            He smiled, running his fingers along his chin. "The only trouble I've gotten into lately is because of you."

            She blushed. "Sorry. I really didn't mean to-"

            There was a flash that streaked across the screen, muting her words. Static began to pour onto the screen while there was huge roaring noise that killed any other sound for a good minute or so.

            "What was that?" Savana asked again when it was safe to talk.

            A beep went off above them. "This is dangerous…" he looked at her urgently. "I have to get going." He said just as the game flipped out again. "Get off the game as soon as possible." his demanding tone hissed as he headed toward the chaos gate..

            She nodded immediately logging out. "What the hell was that?" she whispered pulling off the visor. "That sound…" suddenly her eyes lit up. Grabbing the cordless phone she dialed in a number and wait for the answer. "Hello this is Tawna. Is Mai there?"

            "…Hi Tawna."

            "Mai," she started. "Can I talk to you sometime during school tomorrow?"

            "I don't know." Her voice was soft, almost emotionless. "I've been really busy…"

            "Mai please!" she snapped. "It's important. It may have something to do with Tomonari."

            More silence followed. "The nurses told me you come to see him every couple of days." She said finally.

            "I do." She smiled. "But the nurse's won't tell me anything. It's been almost three months Mai. What's going on?"

            "…They tried taking him off life support about three or four weeks ago, but his parents and I were against it. So they didn't. I've been looking for a way to help him. The answers-"

            "Are in the game the World." Tawna finished. "I've been playing it myself Mai. I've been trying to help you two out as much as possible. Tonight something happened. Remember you said you heard that weird sound? I heard too, on the game tonight."

            "Tawna, don't be so reckless!" the girl's voice finally picked up. "You could have been put in the hospital. That game is way to dangerous to play." Sighing she paused. "Tomorrow morning before school in the locker room."

            "Alright tomorrow morning then." Hanging up she made her way to her bed. Lying down she picked up the magazine off the floor and stared at the front cover. "Be careful Rei."

            Sitting up the next morning, Tawna was vaguely aware her sister was staring worriedly down at her. "I came to wake you and you're e-mail started going off."

            The girl bolted up and looked over at her desk where the computer now permanently stayed. "It's from Balmung." She said sleepily. "He says…the game's become to unstable. The corruption's spread into the root towns now…the game's become a living hell…" Turning she looked around the room, wondering why it was so bright outside. "What time is it?"

            "It's only nine thirty." Her sister said with a smile.

            "In the morning?! I'm late for school!" she cried getting up only to trip over the chair and end back on the floor.

            "Hey calm down. Mom's already gone into work. I won't mind writing you an excuse to go into class late. Go ahead and sign on and talk to your man." Sumiko told her, walking out of the room with a mischievous glance. "Mom will never find out."

            Before her sister had made it downstairs Tawna had logged herself in the game. As she stepped out into Mac Anu, her jaw dropped. "I…I didn't think it could get this bad…"

            The sky was corrupted beyond compare and the once beautiful town was covered in sea green and yellowish-red blotches. It was as if an infection had taken place all over the root town. The water in the canal had turned red, a river of blood. Other players who had logged on were walking around in shock. How was CC Corp going to explain this?

            Balmung was online, but he wasn't answering his flashmail, so Savana walked around the aqua capital, picking up pieces of conversations from other players and trying to let the damage sink in. Wandering around, she eventually found herself in the alleyways behind the city, her memories leading her feet back to where her first kiss had been taken. Turning the corner she stopped dead at the sound of voices up ahead.

            "Come on smart guy, you're on the inside. Tell us what's going on." A male voice snapped.

            "Even -If- I knew, I wouldn't tell you." It was a man's tenor voice that replied.

            "Look kid, do I have to PK you to get the point across of what I want?" a third voice hissed.

            The second chuckled. "You'll never get what you want that way."

            "No, but I will kill you, just because you're pissing me off!" the first growled.

            Savana swallowed. She hadn't meant to stumble across this, but she just couldn't leave the boy to get double-teamed while she stood by. She had heard too much to not be involved now. "Hey!" she yelled, stalking up the alleyway. "Leave him alone!"

            Two tall, muscular heavy blades spun around to see who was coming up to challenge them. Between the two, Savana could hardly see the blademaster they had had pinned up against the wall until a moment ago.

            She walked straight up to the first, unsheathed her sword and pointed straight at his chest. "I'm telling you to let him go. It's way to early in the morning to have to deal with this."

            "Missy thinks she's going to be able to persuade me to let him go." The first grinned over at his friend.

            "No, I'm not. I'm ordering you. There's a difference." She replied. "But if you're not going to listen-" She raised her hand, bringing the butt of the handle across his nose. Spinning around to his friend, she brought the blade across the man's face. While the two were momentarily occupied with their wounds, she looked the blademaster. "Come on!" she demanded, grabbing his arm as they fled.

            Dashing through the backroads of Mac Anu, the two didn't stop until they reached a dead end. With all the turns they had made, it had probably made it impossible to track them, and even if they could find them, the stairwell leading to the upper level would prove useful rather then trying to fight them.

            Savana leaned up against the wall, trying to catch her breath. Her golden eyes wandered over to the man she had saved. He was at least half a foot shorter then she was, but nicely built for a blademaster character. White cloth wraps started at the waistline of his pants, covering most of his stomach and leaving his well-defined chest exposed. His baggy fighter style pants were the same color as his steel gauntlets, an eerie off black color that seemed to shine in the low light. A silver cross hung around his neck, the charm trembling with its owner's rapid breaths. Midnight blue hair fell into his face and down the side of his neck, giving off an odd metallic sheen. As his handsome face stared back at her, she got a glimpse of his eyes- a pale violet that made his slightly tan skin look even darker. He smiled at her, and she found herself instantly smiling back. "Thanks for helping me out back there." He held out a gloved hand. "My name's Ranku."

            "Savana." She told him as they shook hands. "If you don't mind me asking, why were those guys giving you such a hard time?"

            He sighed after a moment, running fingers through his bangs. "They're upper-classmates of mine that go to my high school. They found out my dad works for CC Corporation and they haven't let me alone about it. They think that because he probably knows what's going on, I should too, but I don't have a clue. I only started playing recently, and I'm still trying to get the hang of the game."

            "Tawna!"

            The redhead's eyes widened. "Oh…that's my sister. I have to get going, I'm already late for school. Take my member address, alright? I can help you level and stuff if you need it."

            His eyes sparked. "Yeah, sure. Here take my address too." He smiled. "Nice meeting you Savana."

            "You too." She told him as she logged out.

            Savana got a chance to sneak out of class to go visit the freshman lunch and spent a good while looking for Mai. Checking outside, she saw the chestnut-haired girl wandering around as well. "Mai!" she called, running toward her.

            The freshman looked up, violet eyes staring at her for a moment. "I was looking for you." She replied softly. "Where were you this morning?"

            "Something happened on the game. Apparently the virus that's been corrupting it has taken over the root towns. Things are starting to look really bad." She swallowed. "How have things been going with you? I know you wouldn't be giving up easily. I know you've been trying Tomonari too. I know you're closer to him than I am, but he was my first friend into computers since Reivin…" looking off for a minute, her eyes got cold. "Since my brother in law was killed." Looking at the girl she continued. "I don't want to see the same thing happen ever again."

            Mai sighed, her eyes shifting away as well. "I haven't…I'm sorry…I've been rather distant lately."

            "It's understandable." She smiled at her.

            "I heard from Lena that you've been spending a lot of time online. What have you found out?" she asked, crossing her arms.

            "From what I know, it's caused by a virus that is corrupting the game, but as far as something like the data drain, I'm not sure. Balmung and I have been looking into it when we're not fighting over something. I did meet the twin blade Kite who is currently running his own investigation. The kid has the power of the data drain as well. How he got it I don't know."

            "Somehow, it's all related to the Epitaph of Twilight." Mai told her.

            "The Epitaph of Twilight?" Tawna blinked.

            "It's a story, originally written in German, and the translations vary. It's not much but it's a start. I have a team helping me out as well. I think if you stick to the game and I tackle the outside information we should be able to get somewhere." Her purple eyes flashed to the girl's golden ones. "If you don't mind, try asking that twin blade what he knows. If we're working toward a common goal we should at least all be working together."

            "It won't hurt to ask. He seemed like a pretty nice guy." She nodded. "I'll e-mail you if I find anything out."

            "And I'll send you everything I know this evening." A slight smile crept across the younger girl's face. "I think we can do this."

            As the bell rang, the two went their separate ways with promises they were determined to keep.

            Walking back through cafeteria on her way to physics, Tawna was practically jumped by Shinta and Tatsu.

            "Hey guys, what's up?" she asked uneasily by the looks on the two's faces.

            "You got mail from Balmung." Tatsu replied, flipping open his cell phone to show her her own inbox.

            "H-How?!" she asked, blinking. "How'd you do that?!"

            "I hacked your account." He said simply. "And I keep it open on my computer during school incase anything really bad happens, because I know you'd be the first person anyone would contact."

            "Not only that, but Tatsu-sempai and I have been trying to track a phone number from the connect number from -his- home phone, and we finally got it last night." Shinta grinned.

            "I know you're against meeting him offline, but if you get a chance to talk to him, you should take it right? It's better then waiting until you get out of school to read his mail." Tossing her the phone Tatsu turned. "We'll watch your back."

            "B-But….!" She stammered, her face going completely red. "What if I get the wrong nothing or something!? I don't wan-"

            "Tawna, it's cool." The brown-haired senior smiled at her. "If it's a wrong number, it's okay. We just thought you'd like to talk to the guy at least once. As for your nerves, its just Balmung remember?" he rolled his chocolate brown eyes in annoyance. "I don't like him, but still…it's your choice."

            "I guess…" she swallowed, just as the bell rung. Her eyes widened. "I'm late for class!"

            "No worries, remember? I don't think you're teacher is going to mind when I pour on the charm and tell her you've been helping me out." Tatsu flashed her a smile. "So, go on, head outside, before you get caught with my cell."

            With the boys watching she turned, heading back out onto the steps and behind the fence around the school grounds. Her fingers were trembling on the buttons as she found the number in the phonebook but determinedly hit the talk button and put the phone to her ear. The phone rang once and then twice before there was a click.

            "Hello?"

            She held her breath, her voice squeaking as she spoke, her eyes shut tight as if the person on the other end could see her. "Hello this is Tawna is Rei there?" she blurted out in one breath.

            There was silence on the line for a moment and then that voice spoke again. "This is Rei."

            Her legs gave out on her and she collapsed back against the fence. With her eyes closed the voice sounded off in her head. She let out a soft sigh. "Your voice…is the same as his."

            "Yours too." He responded. "Wow. H-How'd you get this number?"

            "Tat-…Eji got it for me. Something about tracing your connection number or something." Her voice was soft, those golden eyes opening slightly. She was still in shock…was this really Balmung, the same man she had hung out with all this time online? By the sound of his voice it was him, but she still couldn't believe that she was getting a chance to talk to him.

            "Tawna? You there?"

            She shook her head, coming back to reality. "Yeah, I'm here. I was just thinking…I guess I'm a little awed. I didn't think I'd be getting a chance to talk to you."

            "That makes two of us." His voice held the same shocked tone that hers did. "So what is the reason for this unexpected call?"

            "Nothing really. Eji told me you had sent me mail. I was wondering if that was about anything that was happening online."

            "No…there's not really anything being released about that as for now, but I'm going to look into it in a little bit. I…was actually sending you mail to apologize for how I've been acting lately. The way I was treating you was inexcusable."

            She giggled. "That's the third 'I'm Sorry' letter in four days you know."

            "I know…I just feel really bad about it. I wasn't treating you as good as I should have been."

            She blushed. "That's not true at all. You and I have been fine towards each other, besides having misunderstandings. I mean, we're friends after-"

            "Is that all we are?" he cut in, his tone demanding but at the same time questioningly.

            "No, of course not." She replied quickly, her blush getting worse. "But we're friends too. I…" she ducked her head. "I…like the way things are right now between us. I'd…I'd like that to only get better."

            There was the sound of a smile in his voice as he spoke again. "Me too. First we have to take care of the problems online, we'll worry about other stuff later on."

            "Am…Am I allowed to call you?" she asked after a moment. "When I can't get online?"

            He hesitated a minute. "Sure. I don't leave the house very much, so you should be able to reach me anytime."

            "Alright." She smiled.. "Well, I can't stay on the phone. I have to get back to class."

            "Will you be online later tonight?" he asked.

            "Yeah as soon as I get out of class." She replied.

            "I'll be looking forward to seeing you then." He replied before hanging up.

            Staring at the phone in her hands, she couldn't resist hugging it for all it had done for her in the last few minutes. Racing back into the school she pounced Tatsu and Shinta and hugged them too.

            "Well I can tell that went well." Tatsu smiled, his face going red as the redhead embraced him. "H-Hey get off me…Yue's gonna get jealous if she finds out."

            "Thanks you guys, so much." She handed him back the cell phone. "Rei told me I could call him anytime I want."

            "Rei huh?" the senior grinned, before blinking. "Tawna, you can't call him."

            "Huh, why?" she asked, looking up at him puzzled and slightly disappointed.

            "Did you check where that number was to? He lives all the way up in Northern Japan. Your mother would have a fit if you were calling him." He explained.

            "Well how about a cell phone? How much does one of those cost?" she asked.

            He blinked again. "You don't own a cell phone?" When she shook her head, he sweatdropped. "You have got to be the most technological-challenged person I have ever met." He muttered with a sigh. "Alright. I'll look in to getting you one, since I do work at electronic store and they do sell standard phones. Would you have the money to pay me back if I got you one with pre-paid minutes?"

            "Yeah, sure." She told him.

            "Alright good. Now let's get you back to class before my excuse won't work because you've been gone way to long." Grabbing her arm, he dragged her off, Shinta following them with a sigh.

            As soon as Savana gated into the balcony of the Dun Lorieag Mountain Palace, she was swept into a pair of strong arms and kissed deeply. Pulling away she looked up into a familiar pair of emerald eyes. "Hey." She managed, blushing.

            "I missed you. I've been waiting for you to get home ever since I got off the phone with you." He replied quietly.

            "You sent me another e-mail, and said you have some explaining to do. Why couldn't you tell me over the phone?" she told him.

            "I'd rather tell you face to face. Makes it easier for me to say what I have to say." He walked to the railing and looked down. "I…got a chance to talk with Kite this afternoon. Last night, something happened…I can't really explain, but when I was called in by the Admin to see what was going on, I found Kite and his team. Earlier this afternoon, I got a chance to talk with Kite again. I apologized to him for being so stubborn and he asked me for his help, so as of now, we're working together."

            The fox girl's tail wagged. "Balmung I'm really glad. Kite's a nice guy." That was really good news, but why did she get the feeling that he was still hiding something by the tone of his voice?

            He turned to look at her, his face serious. "Things are going to get pretty dangerous from here on out. That's why I want you and your friends out."

            "What?" she took a step toward him her voice again registering shock. "But why?"

            "Lord Balmung? Are you here?" a cold female voice echoed through the halls of the castle and faintly out onto the balcony. Savana's canine ears pricked at the sound way before Balmung could hear the calling.

            Suddenly the balcony doors flew open and in stepped a heavily armored axe-woman, dragging a chain to which the blademaster's little sister was shackled.

            "Hikaru!" Savana gasped.

            "Brother!" the small winged sorceress cried out to him.

            "What is the meaning of this?!" he gritted his teeth, his hand resting on his blade handle.

            "You wanted me to fetch her, and she resisted. It was all I could do." The axeman sighed, releasing the chains.

            Hikaru went running straight into Balmung's arms. "She attacked me out of nowhere and said that if I didn't go with her she'd kill me. I was scared." She told him, near tears.

            Balmung ran his gloved fingers through her long cerulean hair. "It's okay, you're safe now."

            "Who do you think you are to pick on Hikaru anyway?" Savana growled, staring at the axe-wielding woman. "You're a heavy axeman and she's a wavemaster. She's no match for you and you know it!"

            The woman's fierce eyes looked her over. "You must be Savana. Flaming red hair and hot-tempered mouth. The description fits perfectly." Her gaze shifted momentarily to the siblings. "I wasn't picking on her, I was following orders." She snorted. "Maybe if your dear boy toy had explained things, you wouldn't be on my back."

            "Balmung what's going on?" his sister asked, looking up at him.

            He swallowed, a hand moving over Hikaru's chin as he pulled back from her. "You two, I'd like you to meet Kamui. She has been put under my authority for a while, while she is training to become an Admin, and I have ordered her to watch over the two of you, since I won't be able to."

            "…You're seriously going to leave us out of this aren't you?" Savana stared at him.

            "Out of what?" Hikaru glanced back and forth between the two.

            "Out of his plans. He's going to go help Kite for a while why we get left behind." She hissed. "I have people I care about riding on my decisions, relying on me. I can't let you get gallant on me now and decide to leave the girls out of this!"

            The sound of flashmail going off beeped over their head. His emerald eyes softened as he stared at her. "I have to get going."

            "No you don't! You're staying right here!" she said stalking over to him and looking defiantly right up at him. "You're not leaving me behind."

            His only response was a soft sigh. Closing his eyes he leaned, down dropping a small kiss on her lips. "I would rather know you're safe Tawna," he said, his voice just above a whisper. "Then know you're lying in a hospital bed like Yasuhiko and Tomonari."

            "I don't care. I'm safe when I'm with you." She replied determinedly.

            "No." he said, barely audible as he gated out.

            "Damnit!" she cried. She could chase him, but he would be gone by the time she got back to the root town. "Damn you Rei!" Turning to Hikaru, she looked at her seriously. "You can track him, right? You can sense where he is?" Grabbing the girl's hand she started for the door. "Come on, we're going to go find him."

            "Savana…" the wavemaster looked at her as if she was crazy. "There's no way I…"

            "You're not going anywhere."

            Glaring over at the axewoman with golden eyes she pinned her ears back. "Kamui, I'm not going to sit here and do nothing while he runs around and puts himself in danger."

            "Balmung can handle himself. I have orders and you're not going to go run off and find him. Hikaru is not allowed to leave the palace at all, unless accompanied by me." She told her, her eyes flashing to the blue-haired girl.

            "What?" Hikaru stared at her. "Like hell."

            "He isn't keeping us prisoners, even if it is for our own good." The blademaster pulled her sword. "I'm getting through that door, and if it means going through you, so be it."

            Kamui smirked, bringing the axe up to rest on her shoulder. "Bring it."

            Dashing into attack the swordswoman was surprised to find herself on the floor moments later in critical condition, blood pouring from a massive swipe along her stomach.

            "Savana!" Hikaru was at her side an instant, healing her completely with Pha Repth.

Staring up at the corrupted sky the view was blocked by Kamui looking down on her. "Pathetic. Next time you try anything I'll be sure to e-mail Balmung with the information that I PKed you. You may be his sweetheart, his lover, his whatever. I don't really give a damn, and don't think that just because you are that you can disobey commands."

            "I've had enough of your mouth." She stood up, pulling her sword back to her side. "Hikaru…" she looked at the wavemaster. "I…I'll see you later. I'm sorry to leave you here like this."

            The girl smiled. "It's no problem and it can't be helped." Staring up at the axe woman she nodded. "I'm logging off for the evening." As soon as the she had gone, Savana didn't waste anytime gating back to the chaos gate. She didn't even have to check her list to see if he was; he always was.

            "It's been a while. What's up?"

            "Do you have a few moments to talk?"

            "Sure. I just logged on actually a little while ago. Where do you want to meet?"

            "Is Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground alright?"

            When she gated in to the area, she immediately spotted the green-haired twin blade sitting on the steps.

            "Hey Kite." She smiled at him as she sat down by his side. "How have you been?"

            "I-" he swallowed. "Actually, not to good. Black Rose and I got into a fight. Every time I try to do something right it all goes wrong." His steel blue looked up at the sky. "I can't help but think that this is partly my fault."

            "No, it's not. You're trying your best Kite, you really are. You and your team have been doing the best you can. Nobody blames you." She smiled at him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing this to save Orca and this entire world."

            He smiled back. "I guess…maybe you're right."

            "I heard Balmung apologized to you." She said after a minute.

            "Yeah." He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for stealing him away from you. He's being a great help."

            "I don't mind that. But, he doesn't want me to keep traveling with him and-"

            "I agree." Kite cut in, looking over at her.

            "You can't be serious!" she told him, her jaw dropping.

            "I'm dead serious." He nodded. "You might think it's cruel, but it's probably the best solution. Balmung wants to give his all fighting with my team. He can do that, but only if he knows the people he cares about are safe. If he knows you're okay, he'll do much better in battle. I'm sorry to lead you out of this, and I know he probably is too, but it's got to be for the best."

            "I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and watch." She said stubbornly. "What if Black Rose told you the same thing? To let her do this on her own now?"

            His cheeks went crimson. "If Black Rose said that then I probably would argue with her too. But I know she wouldn't do anything like that."

            "What about your team, aren't they in danger too?" she asked.

            "Some what." He nodded after a moment. "But it seems the longer they stay near me, the more my bracelet's power makes them immune. Like it infects them with a protection spell or something. Suddenly his eyes sparked. "Hey, I know. A friend of mine is a newbie who just started playing. Next time she logs on you can come with us to level. You probably won't get much exp, but at least you'll gain some of the bracelet's defenses."

            "That'll be great, thank you." She smiled. "Just keep me posted alright? I want to be of some help to you when things get to tough." She told him.

            "Alright." He smiled back.

            Without warning she jumped him in a hug, knocking his hat off. "Has any of your team members ever told you that you're a great guy?" she said lightly, teasingly.

            He blushed. "Once or twice. You hold on to your own guy alright?" his cheeks went redder. "I don't have time for a relationship for right now and Balmung is pretty cool."

            "I was only joking." She stuck out her tongue. "And besides, I'm not giving up Balmung. I just…need to take it easier on him I guess…"

            "For now have fun and play the game. I'll call you when I need you." Kite said resting his arms on his knees.

            A beep went off above them. "That's Black Rose, saying she's online. Looks like it's time for me to go." He stood grabbing his hat. "I'll talk to you soon Savana."

            "Later Kite!" she told him as he gated out. "Be careful."

            Returning to Mac Anu, the fox girl looked over her member list. "Eji and Ranku online…hmmmm….." she grinned. "Sure why not?" Calling both she smiled up at the ever-changing green glowing sky. At least a party with these two would make the night interesting, especially with Eji's habit of picking up new apprentices.

            "Have fun eh?" the blademaster murmured out loud, moving crimson bangs from her view. "I think I can manage that…"

-CHAPTER ELEVEN END-

CLOSING COMMENTS:

Yay! Chapter eleven is finished! My closing comments are going to be pretty long though -sigh- For my new reviewers, thank you very much! I appreciate all the effort you guys put into reading my story -shiny eyes- I love you guys! About chapter eleven…I took Balmung's life into my own hands. I've read both books of Legend of the Twilight (that are out), seen four episodes of the anime and all of Sign and played the games (haven't beat #4 though) and I never saw anything on Balmung IRL. I hope you all will bear with me as I mess around with who he is. I think since he is going to be Savana's love we need to know more about him then just his online character. As for all of you who might have been rooting for Hiko in the last chapter -sheepish grin- I'm sorry it didn't end up the way you wanted. But don't worry about the Hi-man, his part in the story is far from over. He's a huge part up until the end and in the next story. Kamui was a new one too…kinda played around with her life too. I know she once took orders from Balmung so I threw that in there too. Ranku finally made his appearance! I'm glad to have another blademaster…they are my favorite classes beside wavemasters. More appearances by .hackLiminality characters, hope you liked it Kenshin! Well, I have to get back to roleplaying on the board…-more sighs- but as soon as I'm done that and playing a little of Arc the Lad I will get started on chapter twelve. If you have any questions, or if I screwed storyline up somewhere, I'm always reachable at GrieversLastAngelhotmail.com

 --Sora Tokumi Kazuma--


	14. Desert Polaris

Chapter Twelve: Desert Polaris 

_We're stuck in a hole…_

_ Searching for anything to hold onto…_

"Dungeon Marathon this Saturday night, 7pm to Midnight. Opening of Aerial City Fort Ouph." Yue read, her lavender eyes widening as she looked up from the paper. "Are you seriously doing this Tawna?"

The redhead nodded. "I thought we all should get together and doing something fun."

"If Tawna's running this then I'm definitely in." Hiko smiled over at her, adjusting his glasses.

"Me too." Lena and Shinta said at the same time, which caused the two to break out in giggles

"Hell, I'm taking off work." Tatsu grinned.

"Do you think Rei will show up?" Raine asked looking over at the amber-eyed junior.

"I'm hoping." The girl smiled at her. "I'm just worried. I sent him a letter apologizing for the way I was acting the other day, but I haven't heard anything back."

"He'll write you Tawny, I'm sure. It'll be okay." Lena told her, nodding her head.

"Here." The girl pulled more papers out of her bookbag. "This is the list of people I've already invited. You can feel free to invite as many people as you like."

"We're going to have a lot of people there as it is. Are you sure you want more?" Yue asked again her eyes glancing over the list.

"I'm positive." She nodded. "It's going to be something fun. It doesn't matter who's there as long as we're all having fun, right?"

The bus pulled up at the stop in front of the school, picking up Lena and Tawna. "See you all tomorrow!" the two called as they climbed onto the crowded bus.

Tatsu grinned, running a hand through his bangs. "This is going to be awesome! I'm going to dominate this thing."

"You wish." Raine looked over at him.

Hiko stared at the bus being swallowed by the city traffic. "Tawna, it's just like you to do something like this." He murmured.

Savana, Hikaru and Kamui tackled five dungeons in Carmina Gadelica that evening. It was more like the blademaster and the wavemaster did all the work while Kamui played back-row healer, but the team worked out nicely and the two girls leveled twice from the massive EXP.

"So are you going to hang out with us on Saturday?" the fox-girl asked her winged friend as they walked through their sixth dungeon.

"Of course. Balmung gave me permission to go and Crim's supposed to get back from a business trip tomorrow, so hopefully we'll both be there." She got closer and whispered "Is Balmung gonna show?"

"I don't know. You've heard from him since the incident on Tuesday. I haven't. I think he's mad at me."

"He's not mad."

The girl's ears pricked, looking over at her Hikaru. "Really?"

"Yeah. He's just been busy that's all." She told her. "Don't worry Savana. I think he's going to be there. In fact, I know he's going to be there. It's just a feeling I have."

"Alright then, I trust you." She smiled over at her. "Hey Kamui," the axe-wielder had been so silent the blademaster had almost forgotten she was trailing behind them. "Are you coming Saturday night?"

The axewoman snorted. "To what?"

Turning around the girl's amber eyes widened. "You didn't get my e-mail!"

"Calm down. Yeah I got it." The girl rolled her intense reddish-purple eyes. "And I don't know yet. If I show up on Saturday you'll know." Stalking past the two, she took a sharp right into the next room. "Come on. We've almost made it to the Gott Statue."

Yue took off her reading glasses, a small hand rubbing her temples as she closed her book. The words were blurring over in her mind, making it impossible to understand.

Just as her hand left her forehead, her fingers were snatched up to a pair of soft lips as bright chocolate eyes stared at her. When she sighed and pulled away, Tatsumaru turned his head, long dark bangs falling in his face as he looked at her. "Baby, what is it?" he asked softly, staring at her.

Staring at the book she leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes for a moment. "It's nothing, really."

"You've been distracted all day. I don't want to hear that." He replied softly. "What's bothering you?"

She looked over at him for a minute uneasily then let out a sigh. "Its…Tawna."

"Tawna?" he blinked. "Why? If you ask me, her life seems to be going pretty good right now." He grinned mischievously. "Especially this thing with Balmung."

"That's what's bothering me." Yue replied. "When I told her that she should find out his real name, I thought that that would be enough for her. But now she's on a first name basis with him and she's calling him too. I was thinking about it today in school and if she was calling him during the school day and he was home, it interests me a little bit why he wasn't in school."

"Big deal, he wasn't in school. I used to skip class all the time. Maybe he's got a cold or he's home schooled or something. Maybe he stayed home because of what's been happening online. He's such a big character in the world that he might find he needs to be online right now." Tatsu told her and then furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the amazed look Yue was giving him. "What?"

"I'm surprised…you of all people siding with Balmung…"

"Heh, don't let it fool you. I still hate the guy, but at least he's taken decent care of Tawna, and he's backed up off my girl." He replied in a huff.

Yue shook her head, a slight smile touching her lips. "Still…it just…doesn't add up somehow. And unlike Tawna I haven't completely forgiven him yet for what he did to her, going back and forth between her and Raquel."

"You know, for someone who used to adore Lord Balmung you sure have done a complete 180." He grinned.

"Before he wasn't messing around with my best friend." She muttered after a minute.

"Hey," Tatsu scooted across the couch, pulling her into his lap. "This is Tawna we're talking about here. This is the girl that continuously has put her ass in danger and has sacrificed all she could without even thinking about it. If there's anyone who can completely get through to Balmung, it will be her. She'll get through this, and we'll be there to back her up. Have some faith hon. She'll know what to do."

"Well buddy, I thought I'd keep you posted on what's going on in my life." Tawna told the comatose form in the bed. Crossing her legs butterfly style, she paused to balance herself on the small bedside chair. "As long as Mai and I and your parents don't give up, there's still hope. She squeezed the lifeless hand tight as she got up. "We'll get you back, I promise. I know I keep saying that, but it'll happen. This-" she ducked her head slightly. "Lena and I were talking and we decided we were going to run a dungeon marathon. I'm, going to organize it and she's going to help me run it. I felt a little bad for throwing a party while you're still stuck in here, but after thinking on it. I've decided to through it in your honor. You won't be there to see it, but I'll tell you about it the next time I come to visit." She smiled. "Just…hang in there Tomonari."

Tuesday passed without an e-mail from Tawna's angel but it was just as well because she, Alyanae, Eji, Grem and Ranku sat around in an area talking about the marathon. At first it was suggested that the three hackers would gate hack into the new root town, check out the areas and report back to Savana and Ranku, but Eji had taken such a liking to the new blademaster that he and Grem were teaching him how to hack code himself. With Ranku's first hacking lesson complete, the entire group wandered around the root town, checking out the newest areas and dodging administrators who were running about, impatient to complete the town in time.

Wednesday when Tawna got home from school there was a message waiting in her inbox.

Tonight 6pm, Tokyo time. Carmina Gadelica. I hope you get this on time and that you're doing okay.

-Kite-

"That's perfect." She smiled. "Thanks Kite, I know have something to do."

He was waiting by the chaos gate at exactly six when she logged in. He blinked and then smiled. "Hey, you made it."

"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." She replied, grinning back.

"Well, I got an email from my friend saying she wanted to level this evening, so I figured I'd give you a call and see if I could get a hold of you." He explained looking at her with emerald eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm so late."

They turned to see a petite young woman dressed in a long silky white gown. Her gorgeous face was framed with short wavy blonde hair. A golden halo rested inches above her head and she had the most beautiful vibrant eyes. She was straining to carry a heavy axe, which took both of her small hands to wield. Small angel-like wings protruded from her back as she bent over the massive weapon and she smiled at the two of them. "Good evening."

Savana swallowed, immediately intimidated by her beauty. Compared to this woman the crimson-haired blademaster looked like a rugged Amazon.

However Kite smiled back at her, that sweet adorable half smile as always. "Don't worry about a thing. You're fine. I would like you to meet somebody though. Terajima Ryoko, I'd like you to meet Savana. Savana, I'd like you to meet Terajima Ryoko."

"It's an honor to make your acquaintance. You're Lord Balmung's friend, are you not?" The axe-wielder rested her weapon against the ground to extend a hand to her.

Savana shook with a nod of her head. "Uh…yes." She managed a smile. "It's nice to meet you too."

"If you ladies don't mind, let's get going!" Kite's voice held a tone of excitement, which eagerly caught on to the others as he gate hacked the chaos gate.

Savana nearly fell on her butt as she emerged on the other side. "Well, that was different. I don't think I'll ever get used to the powers of your bracelet Kite." She said, regaining her balance on her two legs. Those golden eyes glanced around today's level. "Oh…this looks fun."

"This level is a little high, even for you Savana. Let me fight through the first couple of battles and the two of you just support yourselves." The twin blade replied to them after looking over the area. "Terajima Ryoko…. why did you want come to this level again?"

Before he had time to answer the blademaster's fox-like ears heard the sound of a portal opening and she turned her head to the right where a hill lay before them. "Uh, Kite, I think we have company."

Shadows of monsters appeared in the dim light up the rolling meadow and Kite unsheathed his daggers rushing toward them. The twin blade's form disappeared into the group while Savana and Terajima did as they were ordered and waited behind.

"Do…Do you think he's doing okay?" the angel axe maid ask her after a few moments.

"Dunno. But we'd know if he died. I think he's gonna be okay. This is Kite we're talking about after all." She crossed her arms, waiting for some sort of reply.

Suddenly a white light surrounded her and code flashed by her side. Those animalistic amber eyes blinked, checking her stat page to make sure she was reading the information correctly. She had just gone up two levels!

"He must have won!" Terajima beamed, raising her head again to watch the hill.

"Yeah one battle." Savana swallowed, her sensitive hearing picking up another portal being opened. "He must be clearing out the area for us so we'll be safe to roam around."

"He's so thoughtful." The other girl smiled and Savana found herself smiling with her. Kite had to be one of the nicest guys she had ever met.

The blademaster sat down on the ground with a sigh, her arms resting on her knees. This might take a while, but at least it was incredibly easy leveling. She wanted to see the look on Balmung's face when he finally contacted her again. Terajima Ryoko took her actions and sat down as well, tugging her gown around her feet as she dropped the axe on the hard ground as she took a brief rest.

"Your appearance…. it's an altered appearance like Lord Balmung's right? You don't really see a lot of characters in red." The angel said after a minute, trying to make conversation. "And your ears and tail are pretty unique."

"My character has changed a lot since I first started. She was originally deleted, but then she got restored…. it was a long story. Let's just say I have friends in high places." She smiled.

The girl nodded. "I love the way Savana looks. She's very beautiful. I wish I knew more about creating characters."

Savana blinked. "Terajima Ryoko turned out okay. She's very pretty. I'm kinda jealous." She admitted. "Plus she's unusual. From her looks she would be a wavemaster, but she wields a heavy axe. It's really different."

"That's what I was going for." She replied before she gasped, her eyes widening. "Savana, lookout-"

The blademaster jumped away just as a scythe came down on the spot where she had been sitting. She had been way to into the conversation to notice a rogue creature sneaking up on her. A mantis. Great.

"Bastard…" She huffed, standing up straight and drawing her sword. Between the two of them, the swordsmaster would be the best choice to take on the monster. "Terajima…" She started, not daring to take her eyes off the creature. "Get a safe distance away and contact Kite. Let him know what's going on. I'll stay alive long enough for him to get here."

"Y-Yes mam." The axe wielder replied, snatching her axe up and dashing away.

The sudden movement caught the monster's control and it turned, preparing to pursue the angel. Savana gritted her teeth. "You wish!" She cried, lunging at it and slicing across its chest with her weapon. Those gold eyes widened as the hit registered…ten damage. Ten damage out of a four-thousand health bar. She dodged the next attack just barely and felt her health bar drop by nearly a hundred as the scythe narrowly missed her. "Great…" She retreated into her inventory and healed herself before back flipping away from another strike. "Since when the hell did I become so weak? This is the last time I come to a dungeon ten levels higher then me."

The next several minutes consisted of this repeated pattern of dodging and healing as the creature was relentless in its attacks. Seemingly fed up with her ability to shy away it used both of its hands in a double attack that sent her health down to nearly zero and the creature recoiled immediately preparing another strike. The fox-girl huffed, sending out a 'help' signal just as she was struck and taken out, reverting to a ghost form. Tawna sat quietly, waiting to see if anything strange happened when she died, but despite the area's corrupted state, it seemed game play was going on as usual.

"Savana!" Terajima arrived only seconds later with Kite who killed the monster and fully healed her.

"I feel helpless now." The blademaster faintly smiled, though her voice held a frustrated tone.

"Don't. The creature's here are unbelievably strong. I was surprised." Kite told her reassuringly. "Here, maybe this will help you."

He handed her a long, slightly curved sword that pulsated with lightning-like energy that changed to a variety of wild colors. She blinked, looking at it. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure myself. I got it from one of the monsters I data-drained…. but the bracelet started acting weird just before I performed the attack. Once it was finished, that was the end result. It's a powerful sword but it's made for a blademaster. You mine-as-well use it. I think its name is called the Desert Polaris? Or something like that." He replied with a sheepish smile.

Equipping the weapon, the woman's eyes lit up. "Critical hit…and a boost on all stats…Kite, this is awesome!"

"Glad you like it so much." He smiled before her arms wrapped around him in a hug. "H-Hey…!" He swallowed, cheeks flushing.

Terajima Ryoko giggled. "I'm happy for you Savana." She told her as the blademaster let go of the blushing twin blade.

"Alright then!" She sheathed the sword with a grin. "I've got a new toy to play with! Kite, find me a monster portal! Whether I'm ten levels lower or not it don't matter! I wanna try this thing out!"

"Alright then…the dungeon seems to be our next place to head. I'm sure you'll get some well-earned experience there." He told her with a smile.

"That's because there's less room to get away." Terajima said timidly but Kite just put a hand on her shoulder. "That's what I'm here for."

Right inside the entrance was a gold monster portal which conviently opened it self as they took one step inside. Out of the bright light came two Halloween.

"Fun…" the woman muttered as she stared up at the ghastly ghosts with pumpkin heads. "A physical tolerance guard."

"Terajima, stay close to me. Savana, you think you can take the other? You're only about six levels off." Kite glanced at her.

"Guess I'm gonna have to try." She nodded to him.

"If you have any lightning attacks, now would be the time to use them." The twin blade responded, shielding the much lower-level axe maiden behind him as he used a spell.

"Go figure, I wouldn't." Savana dodged a dark magical attack, racing further out into the wide room and luring the other monster away from her friends. "Gan Don!"

A rain of rocks began pelting the creature, momentarily paralyzing it. Tying to seize an early upper hand she rushed into attack only to be blown away seconds later, her health flashing red in the danger zone.

"Pha repth." A light blue aura filled her body as she quickly stood up, looking over to Kite who was dodging attacks as well as protecting Terajima as well as healing her. "It has death on its sword. Be careful!"

"Now he tells me." She huffed. "I'm not going to lose to you again, you pathetic excuse for a ghost." The hilt in her hand began to tremble and she blinked at it as she jumped out of the way of another attack. "What the…" The handle was shaking more and more and it was all she could do to keep it secure within her fingers. Staring at the blade, she noticed the aura around it had stopped changing, crackling like white lightning. A lightning element. "Alright then. Let's try it your way." Jumping out of a darkness attack and getting scrapped by its touch she charged the creature, lunging her weapon into its head. For a moment the screen seemed to freeze and the next thing she knew she was picking herself out of the wall where the explosion had nearly put her through the stone.

"Savana? Savana are you alright!"

The warrior sat up, blinking slightly. "Yeah, I'm okay, I think." She stood up slowly, grabbing for her sword, which was embedded into the stone floor by the force of the blow. "What the hell happened?"

"I was wondering if you could tell us." Kite watched her, surprised she was even still moving. "You attacked the creature head on and it suddenly fell to pieces before exploding."

The blademaster grabbed the handle, wincing as a spark of white lightning shocked her palm. "Ow. What was that for!" she demanded, sheathing the weapon. Text flashed on the screen as the game finally calculated the 520 exp she got from killing the creature. Opening her screen she smiled in satisfaction. "Now I'm only two levels behind." She blinked and then screened through her equipment list, staring at numbers that just couldn't seem to be real. "Guys…I'm not hallucinating, but my sword just leveled up."

"It leveled?" Kite repeated, his mind processing it as he said it.

"And it gained death touch." She stared at him for a second. A weapon that could level and get stronger as it's wielder did. This was starting to sound remarkably like another unique item in possession of someone in their party.

"Savana…maybe it's not a good idea for you to wield that weapon." Terajima swallowed.

"No way! This thing is awesome!" She cried, stilly staring back at the weapon's stat page as if she couldn't believe it.

"…Just be careful." Kite said after a moment. "We'll deal with it later. If she's still going to use it, those no reason to worry too much on it now. She does things the way she wants to, regardless. Let's continue into the dungeon. If the sword becomes a problem then I'll do something about it. Until then, let's just keep moving."

Savana's weapon seemed to act up in every battle, but not on the same level it had upon its first fight. One the contrary it was very helpful to get through fights since it could usually kill an enemy in one hit. Closely monitored after every battle, it had picked up another two or three effects from other enemies they had fought as well as leveled again when Savana had leveled. The three were completely dumbfounded by the weapon, but they weren't complaining about it's tremendous strength either as the reached the fifth floor.

"Here it is. That last room." Savana smiled as they walked to the doorway. "To easy."

"Let's get this over with." Kite replied, heading through the door first.

They had barely entered the room when they were attacked by a massive boss monster. The blademaster barely had time to recognize her name being called before she was thrown to the ground. Blinking up she stared into the handsomely cute face of the twin blade. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly, eyebrows furrowing.

She nodded, crimson touching her cheeks. He was off of her in the next moment, dashing to save the angel axe maiden before the massive creature had her in its tremendous grip. Sweeping her into his arms he dropped her on the far side of the room where she would be safe before turning to face the gigantic animal. His first attempt at an attack ended up backfiring as he was tossed like a rag doll nearly twenty feet, his body slamming into the stone wall.

"Kite, no!" Savana cried, drawing her weapon. Ryoko let out a gasp as their hero fell to the ground. She gritted her teeth, looking up at the monster. If it had bested Kite…there was no way she would be able to beat it, but she sure as hell was going to try.

"Don't…even think it Savana."

She turned her head in shock as the twin blade stood up, hands shaking as he clutched one of his daggers in hand. The other one was gone, somewhere around the massive room. Blue-green eyes stared up at the monster with a knowing smile. "You're powerful but not very fast, or very smart."

Before she could calibrate what had happened he was on the beast, launching into the air. His bracelet reacted as he drove the weapon into the creature's neck, watching it disintegrate into nothingness. He tried his best to land gracefully on his feet, but to no avail and slumped over, his hat falling on the ground next to him.

"Kite!"

The two women were on him in an instant, Terajima practically in tears as she dropped to her knees by his side. "I'm so sorry….this is all my fault…you've been protecting me all this time….and I….didn't know any better…."

He smiled up at her, brushing shaggy teal locks of hair from view. "It's not your fault. It would have happened regardless."

"The nice guy as always." Savana grinned, holding out a hand to help him up.

While Terajima stayed by his side, Savana went to find his other dagger, which was stuck in the wall near where the blademaster had been sitting. Handing it to him, she stretched with a mischievious grin. "So, what next?"

"We get out of here." Kite replied.

"I have to be getting offline." The axe maiden frowned and then smiled apologetically. "But let's all meet up again sometime, alright?"

Savana nodded. "Sure!"

The three made it safely back to Aerial City Fort Ouph's Gate and then from there changed servers to Carmina Gadelica.

"Thanks for the great time today you guys. I don't know what I was expecting from the new server, but you cleared that up for me." She smiled at the twin blade.

"No problem. Talk to you guys soon." He said as he logged out, Ryoko right behind him.

Savana took a step into the server root town and froze in place. Not being able to access any of her menus she panicked but before she had time to shut down the system she was flooded by a bright light and found herself in an empty void of white.

"What…. hello?" She called, but only heard her own voice echo throughout the realm. She took a step in the air…at least she could move again and she had confirmed there was some sort of floor underneath her, even if she couldn't see it.

"Blademaster." A deep voice rumbled through the vortex as a large chunk of green data began materializing in front of her, taking the form of a middle-aged player character.

"Where am I?" She demanded, gritting her teeth. "And who the heck are you?"

"You are in one of the containment rooms maintained by the Admin. I am Lios, one of the head administrators. Recently we have been closely monitoring the twin blade character Kite. We saw what happened this afternoon during your dungeon trip. I demanded that you hand over that weapon immediately."

"Like hell!" she snapped, her amber eyes narrowing as she rested a hand protectively on the hilt of the blade.

"If you do not comply I will have no choice other to delete you." He replied calmly.

"That's harassment!" she cried back. If she lost Savana again… "And what would you tell my friends when they start asking why my character's been destroyed!"

"That you were the head of an illegal event that was not approved by the Admin beforehand. That you're character appearance is illegal as it was created by a group of hackers. And now you harbor an illegal weapon. There are so many choices. Why don't you be the one to pick."

She swallowed. "Balmung wouldn't-"

"Balmung is a traitor to the Admin he was working for," he cut in sharply, anger rising in his voice. "And he will be greatly punished for his disloyalty, one way or another." He smiled, something that sent chills up her spine. "Maybe destroying you would take a blow to his ego."

"You bastard, no!" She withdrew the blade, holding it tightly in a clenched hand as she point it at him. "You leave him alone! He's doing the right thing! You're nothing more then a bully and a coward who goes around destroying other characters under your own pretense of justice. If someone defies you, they die. You're pathetic!"

He raised a slight eyebrow as he smirked. "Now you're attempting to assault an admin? You're criminal record is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. Enough talk. Consider yourself deleted."

"That would be enough of that Lios."

A hold opened in the empty void and the blonde-headed hacker of legend entered gracefully.

The admin clenched his teeth. "Damn you Hel-"

"I said that's enough!" she barked again, her temper flaring. "You just want someone to abuse since Balmung wisened up and left your idiotic cause. Picking on someone close to him is not right."

"She's carrying a weapon that is illegal by the rights of the admin! That sword is not even normally under registry! And its effects are devastating! She could-"

The sound of the wavemaster's staff slamming against the floor shut the babbling moderator's mouth. The hacker turned, looking at the blade the girl was holding at her side. "Indeed she does." She responded gravely. "But that is not your concern."

"My concern!" he scoffed. "Do you realize that I'm a system administrator!"

"I've realized that you did all but cheer on that heavyblade, Eji, when he had Balmung down on his knees on the dirt, and I also found out how satisfied the admin board was when Savana jumped in the way to protect him and was hit with that poisonous blow instead. You were hoping that he would take them both out after that." The hacker said, her voice chillingly cold.

"Wh-What!" the blademaster gasped. "The admin set him up!"

The wavemaster glanced back at her. "Of course. They were suspicious of why Balmung was putting in the extra effort to follow up on Kite. And when he started to pull away from them and hide things he was finding out from them, they decided to threaten him. It was just fortunate enough that they knew a player who hated Balmung enough and could easily get the job done. The area was setup and was supposed to have been protected but Alyanae undid the locks when she arrived so the others could get through. They weren't counting on you to be there, but since you showed up and had gotten injured they figured you would just be killed off again and that was the end to you. Hopefully after all he had been through Balmung would put two and two together and come back faithfully to the Admin, but he did the exact opposite and continued to pull away."

"He said…that the admin had been hounding him about something…I couldn't believe it would be something like this…" Savana swallowed.

"It makes sense now that you think about it, doesn't it?" The hacker nodded. "Think about why they haven't reinforced the hacker laws against that heavyblade, even though he's a major threat."

"That's because damn Kazuma is almost as good at getting around our system as you." The Admin spat venomously at her. "We administrators would never plan such an insane conspiracy as the one you're spewing. We-"

"Lios, just admit that you all allowed the boy to keep his equipment and weapons and that he was allowed to continue hacking if he would scare Balmung back to you." Her voice was unmoving and cold, like a column of ice. The moderator could hardly think up excuses around her words.

"But, I still don't understand why they would want to punish him like this… what did he even do wrong? I mean, so what if he was hiding information. Most of us are." Savana asked after a minute, looking at the sorceress for an answer.

"Little Lady," the hacker started after a minute. "Whether you've realized it or not, Balmung is very arrogant. That cocky knight grew ten times worse after Orca disappeared to hide the fact that he was upset, but the admin didn't like it. They knew Balmung had power and respect from the players and they feared him teaming up with Kite because the two would definitely be able to sway the players if they needed to. So, when he started getting close to the twin blade, they decided to do something about it and that plan involved Eji. The point I'm trying to make out of all of this is that everything that spews from this man's mouth is a lie, and you should trust him about as far as you can throw him. The Admin have lost their reputation as the fair leaders of this world."

"I will not stand here and be insulted straight to my face like this! And you're little ridiculous plot of yours still has nothing to do with that fact that she's an unauthorized character carrying an illegal weapon and that she's responsible for organizing an event outside of the Admin's decision." Lios demanded, though his fierce tone had dropped considerably.

"Hmm…" The hacker walked up to her. "The weapon was obviously made by Kite. That could be the only reason you want it so badly. As for her appearance, I was the one who altered it, and if you're looking for someone to come after for that it would be me. But, you're stupid barriers don't work on me and you could never catch me, so you might as well let that drop. And, as far as I can see, the Admin shouldn't have a problem with a party." She turned, her long curtain of blonde hair swishing behind her. "Maybe if you explained why you wanted the item, the girl might lend it to you."

"Lend?" The Admin snorted.

"No way." Savana replied, resheathing the weapon and keeping a firm hand on it.

"Now, now." The woman smiled. "Maybe we will come to some sort of agreement."

"…Fine." Lios snapped after a minute, finally caving in. "We believe that sword has similar properties to Kite's bracelet. We want to test it to find out its true strength."

Savana hesitated after a moment before unbuckling the sheath from her hip and hold it out. "As long as I can have it back by tomorrow's dungeon trip."

The admin glared at her but the wavemaster smiled. "He'll have it delivered tomorrow, I can assure you, and it will be in the same condition as it is right now." Her voice was absolute and she glanced over at the admin. "And Lios, send Savana some help for her little party. Give her an area or so to work with and announce the event as legal and open to the public."

"Are you serious?" the blademaster's golden eyes lit up.

"Consider it done." The admin snapped, logging out the second the sword was in his hands.

"Well, that settles that." The hacker said triumphantly. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

They suddenly found themselves in a creepy rundown town. "Welcome to paradise, or as other players call it, Net Slum."

"Wow." Savana stared around the place. "Wow." Looking over at her she smiled sheepishly. "Thanks for the help back there Miss."

"The name is Helba." She stared off down the street, waiting momentarily for the blademaster to catch up. "And don't mention it. Anything to aggrivate that pig-head." She smiled. "You're a very interesting character to watch."

"Me?" The shorter girl blinked.

"You fall for one of the most popular, arrogant, self-centered men in this game, go through hell to make him yours and never lose sight of your true goal. I think if you get stronger, you will be a very powerful ally to Kite. And that boys needs all the help he can get."

"Miss Helba, do you know why my sword was created?" Savana asked after a second. "My Desert Polaris…do you know why Kite's bracelet created something that strong?"

A long silence fell between them. "Kite cares about you." She said finally. "He wants to see you happy. At the moment his data drain went off, he was worried and afraid for your safety. His bracelet reacted to those feelings, and he wanted to find a way to protect you. As Aura herself said, the power that bracelet holds can bring forth salvation or destruction at the whim of the user. You were chosen as part of Kite's salvage team." She looked over her shoulder. "People are expecting big things from you tomorrow. I'll help create some fireworks for the festivities tomorrow evening. Until then," she smiled, logging out.

Tawna pulled the visor off with a sigh. It was already past nine and still nothing from Balmung, but she wasn't surprised. She collapsed on her bed, gold eyes staring at her poster. "Rei…I hope you're alright."

CHAPTER TWELVE END-

Author's Notes- OMFG…. it's been a long ass time since I worked on this! I've been feeling bad since I recently started putting a lot of time back into my writing and this has been sitting untouched for months. It's not fair, so I'm bringing it back with intent to finish it. It'll take a while but it WILL happen. ; Okay…chapter thirteen… things finally seem to find a moment of actual peace for Tawna's team as her event comes into full swing. But the one person she wants there hasn't even contacted her and she's stuck between worry and sadness, thinking that he's going to totally miss the dungeon event she has been planning. Little does she know, Balmung has been doing some planning of his own, as Rei doesn't intend to let this opportunity go to waste. Until I write again!

Sora Tokumi Kazuma


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